The U.S. Supreme Court this spring declined to hear a legal challenge against new San Diego County district boundaries etched out during a 2021 redistricting process, upholding the changes.
Now the county’s Independent Redistricting Commission is calling on the Chaldean Coalition, an organization that had alleged the new boundaries split their community, to pay at least $634,000 in legal bills covered by taxpayers.
The commission approved new boundaries in late 2021 after a year-long process. The changes, which included keeping Rancho San Diego in more urban District 4 and moving El Cajon into more rural District 2, took effect early the following year. Some Chaldean community members objected to those changes and said they identified more as rural East County residents.
The Chaldean Coalition sued in March 2022, arguing the move amounted to an illegal division of its community. A San Diego Superior Court judge in 2023 ruled against the Chaldean Coalition. The state Court of Appeal upheld the maps last year and the state Supreme Court later decided against rehearing the case. In early March, after the Chaldean Coalition requested U.S. Supreme Court review, the nation’s high court declined to hear the case.
Redistricting Commission Chair David Bame cheered the Supreme Court’s denial and prior legal rulings.
“This was an independent commission meeting for the first time and having a result that was validated all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Bame said.
Yet the legal challenges also hit the county’s bottom line. Bame wants the Chaldean Coalition to voluntarily cover the bills.
The Chaldean Coalition and its attorney did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
County spokesperson Tammy Glenn said the county has not reached out to the organization and does not expect to take further action.
