Reshaping Government:  Possibilities and Perils

Congressional Redistricting Frenzy

June 4, 2026 | 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

REGISTRATION LINK

University of Pittsburgh | William Pitt Union | Lower Lounge

In-person attendance is suggested.  A virtual option is available when registering.

Maps of new Congressional districts customarily have been re-drawn only once every ten years.  That redistricting work was tied to the release of decennial census data and driven by the need to respond to population shifts, consistent with the constitutional requirement that citizens have equally weighted votes.

These longstanding patterns were shattered in the current election cycle when the Texas legislature, acting on a request from President Trump, redrew that state’s Congressional districts to help the Republican party secure additional seats in a closely-divided House of Representatives.  To offset those gains, California voters approved a revised map intended to advantage the Democratic party.  Several other states now also have become involved in mid-decade redistricting.

The pace of this activity accelerated with the U.S. Supreme Court’s end-of-April decision in Louisiana vs. Callais – which, to many observers, gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and invited states to engage in partisan gerrymandering. Even more recently, interest intensified when the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a map that had been approved by that state’s voters and would have advantaged the Democratic party.

More than sixty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court stated, “No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live.  Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”  Has the right to vote been damaged by these recent developments and are the gerrymandering wars here to stay, as some have predicted?  These and related issues will be examined in this program.

Robert L. Byer is a partner in the global law firm Duane Morris, which was founded in Philadelphia and now has offices across the country and around the world.  He specializes in appellate litigation, was the founding chair of the firm’s appellate practice group, and has argued or briefed more than 250 cases in state and federal courts throughout the country.  Earlier in his career, he served as a judge of both Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court and its Court of Judicial Discipline, was a partner in two other major law firms and chaired the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Appellate Court Procedural Rules Committee.

Jonathan Cervas is a member of the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute for Strategy & Technology.  His areas of specialty include redistricting, voting rights, and American political institutions, and he teaches courses in American government, representation, and electoral systems, linking data-driven research to real-world policy.  He has advised redistricting processes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin, has been involved in redistricting cases throughout the country, and has spoken and written on such topics as partisan and racial gerrymandering, mid-decade redistricting, and racial equality after Louisiana vs. Callais.

Mark Nordenberg is Chair of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics and Director of its Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy.  Over the course of a Pitt career spanning nearly a half-century, he has served in a number of key leadership positions, including Dean of the School of Law and Chancellor of the University. 

This program is a reunion for these three participants.  Following the 2021 census, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Chancellor Emeritus Nordenberg the Chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission. He, in turn, recruited Mr. Byer to serve as the Commission’s Chief Counsel and Prof. Cervas to serve as its Redistricting Consultant.

This program has been approved by the Pennsylvania CLE board for 1 hour of substantive credit. There is a fee of $30 for those seeking CLE credits. The program is free to Pitt Law faculty, staff, students and those not seeking CLE credit.   Contact:  CMD240@pitt.edu

Sponsored by: The Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy | The Institute of Politics

Co-sponsored by:  Pitt Cyber | Pitt Law  | David C. Frederick Honors College

The Dick Thornburgh Forum is grateful to the Richard King Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the Forum's Governance programs.