May 3, 2012

A Kansas woman has filed a federal lawsuit over the state Legislature's failure so far to redraw the state's political boundaries.

Robyn Renee Essex, a resident of the Kansas City suburb of
Olathe, filed her litigation Thursday in U.S. District Court. She
argues the state's existing political boundaries violate her
constitutional rights because they haven't been adjusted yet to
account for changes in population over the past decade.

One of her attorneys, Brent Haden, of Columbia, Mo., is a former
chief of staff to Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson
Republican.

In the lawsuit, Essex expressed doubt that legislators will be
able to break a stalemate on redistricting. She suggests that one
option would be for a panel of three-federal judges to set new
legislative and congressional districts.