Peter Hart-Brinson, a UW-Eau Claire associate professor of sociology, credits a generation of young people — conservatives and liberals alike — for making gay marriage an accepted reality throughout the United States.
In his new book on this topic, he reports that generational differences, not ones of ideology, have been the key factor. Young people with vastly different political stances view and talk about homosexuality in a way that differs from their parents’ generation, he says.
Pressure builds for nonpartisan approach to redraw state’s electoral districts despite U.S. Supreme Court’s inaction on Wisconsin case
The U.S. Supreme Court in June sidestepped a decision on a pair of redistricting cases — from Wisconsin and Maryland — and sent them back to lower courts for further consideration But no matter which way the Court eventually decides these cases, serious change could well be coming to Wisconsin’s partisan system for redrawing electoral districts.
The Wisconsin case stems from a ruling by a U.S. District Court that the state’s 2011 redistricting, enacted by a state legislature controlled by Republicans, was unconstitutional. The Maryland case involves a similar challenge to a congressional redistricting plan put into effect by a Democratic-controlled legislature.
Thus far, 39 of 72 Wisconsin counties have passed resolutions in support of a nonpartisan redistricting process, at the urging of two state groups concerned about the issue.