After the 2008 election, a secretive, well-funded partisan initiative poured money into state legislative races in key swing states to gain control of their redistricting processes and used high-tech analytics to dramatically skew voting maps based on demographic data. The result is one of the greatest electoral manipulations in U.S. history, one that poses a fundamental threat to our democracy and exacerbates the already polarized atmosphere in Congress and state houses across the country.
Gerrymandering, the practice of redrawing electoral maps to serve the party in power, has been around for centuries. But in today’s hyperpartisan political environment it has been taken to unprecedented extremes, fueled by the elimination of corporate campaign contribution limits and the availability of vast amounts of personal information.
The effects of this audacious plan have continued to bear fruit through the 2018 midterms. But voters, fed up with cynical efforts to sidestep the will of the majority, have begun fighting back. In one example, a grassroots movement led by a young woman with no political experience gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to put an anti-gerrymandering initiative on the ballot in Michigan.
Slay the Dragon shines a light on this timely issue, and follows a handful of citizens’ groups, outraged by what they see as an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally, as they battle party operatives and an entrenched political establishment to fix a broken system.
February 16, 2021 2021 CRSJ Section Midyear Meeting
Slay the Dragon: Documentary Discussion
Welcome and Introduction
- Angela J. Scott, J.D., LL.M., Federal Civil Rights Law Attorney; Chair, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Panelists
- Chris Durrance, Director and Producer, Slay the Dragon
- Katie Fahey, Founder/Director, The People
- Barak Goodman, Director and Producer, Slay the Dragon
- Paul M. Smith, Vice President for Litigation & Strategy, Campaign Legal Center; Professor from Practice, Georgetown Law; Council Member, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Moderator
Elizabeth Yang, Chair, Elections and Voting Rights Committee, ABA Section of State and Local Government Law
Co-Sponsors: ABA Center for Public Interest Law, ABA Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities, ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, ABA Diversity and Inclusion Center, ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, ABA Standing Committee on Election Law
Resources
Transcript: Slay the Dragon: Documentary Discussion
Login to view the webinar recording. Not a member of the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice? Join the Section today!
Support CRSJ
CRSJ provides free webinars and resources for legal professionals and advocates nationwide and relies on generous donor support and volunteer service. Your charitable gift ensures that we continue to address the deepening crises in our collective pursuit of advancing law and justice. Thank you!