Supreme Court orders California Democrats to justify Prop 50 maps

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave California Democrats a week to respond to the California Republican Party’s request to block the new Democrat-drawn congressional district maps from being used in November.

The request for a response, issued by Justice Elena Kagan, who is handling the emergency-injunction request for the court, surprised many court watchers.

Given that the justices allowed Texas Republicans’ gerrymandered map to stand, most thought the Supreme Court would allow...