The Supreme Court's indecision on the census question and decision to get out of the issue of gerrymandering was "utterly inconsistent" and a compromise to attempt to appear nonpartisan, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV.
"The decision on gerrymandering is one of the most important decisions of the century," Dershowitz told "Newsmax Now."
"It takes the Supreme Court out of the issue of partisan gerrymandering."
Dershowitz told host John Bachman that Chief Justice John Roberts' deciding vote to kick the census question back over "phony excuses" was designed to file what Chief Justice Roberts sees as his main role: "to make sure the court is not seen as a partisan institution."
It failed, Dershowitz said.
"What it is is a compromise decision by the Chief Justice, who doesn't want the court to seem too partisan," he said. "The Supreme Court is a partisan institution – when it comes to issues like this."
The Supreme Court decided Thursday it would not get in the way of the drawing of political voting maps, but would not rule in favor of the Trump administration's reasoning for asking a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
"And Chief Justice Roberts wrote a paragraph that's utterly inconsistent with the gerrymandering opinion," Dershowitz said. "He said that we won't accept phony excuses for why you put something on a census form. Then, why are they accepting phony excuses for why they gerrymander?
"They say they gerrymander in order to enhance voting equality, but we know they gerrymander to give advantage to one party over the other."
"Why is the Supreme Court looking into motives in one case and not the other case? It was utterly inconsistent."
Dershowitz added partisan gerrymandering "will only get worse" as the incumbents will draw political voting maps to favor themselves and their party – without Supreme Court oversight.
As for the census, President Donald Trump is seeking to delay the process, but Dershowitz doubts the president will ultimately have the power to delay it past 2020.
"There's going to be a delay, delay, delay fight" in the courts that the Supreme Court did nothing to settle, he concluded.
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