Ohio chief justice: New redistricting amendment needed

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's efforts to curb gerrymandering are not working and voters must once again amend the constitution to take politics completely out of the process, the retiring chief justice of the state Supreme Court said Thursday.

The current redistricting commission, created by constitutional amendment in 2015, has had no discernible effect on gerrymandering and as a result voters this fall will elect candidates based on unconstitutional legislative districts, Republican Maureen O’Connor said in her annual and final state of the judiciary speech.

A new amendment must create a commission that restricts partisan politics by prohibiting elected officials from serving, O'Connor said. The current Ohio Redistricting Commission consists of elected lawmakers and state officeholders, including the governor, and has a 5-2 Republican majority.

Instead, commission members must consist of “sensible people who are not driven by politics but rather by what’s fair,” O'Connor said. “Fair representation and justice.”

O'Connor's remarks echoed the position she took in January when the court first ruled — in a 4-3 decision with O'Connor in the majority — that initial maps drawn by the commission were unconstitutional.

The court made similar rulings four more times before a federal court ordered Ohio to use the third set of Statehouse maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, maps the state Supreme Court had also found unconstitutional.

O'Connor sided with the court's three Democrats each time, and some fellow Republicans called for her impeachment, though nothing came of it.

“Political theater,” O'Connor said after the speech, adding: “I don’t give it a second thought.”

During her speech, O'Connor said she planned to play some kind of role in promoting another...