As the process of gerrymandering by highly partisan politicians has come under extreme scrutiny in 2017-18, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has stepped up in an extraordinary manner to demonstrate that far more fairness in the drawing of small-d democratic district boundaries for our lawmakers is fairly simple.

The result of this ruling could be a big boost for the Voters Not Politicians ballot proposal in Michigan that seeks to put the establishment of district boundaries for Congress and the Legislature in the hands of an independent commission.

In Pennsylvania, where Republican President Donald Trump won by a 49-48 percent margin in 2016, the state’s congressional districts went 13-5 in favor of the GOP.

The Pennsylvania high court’s dramatic redrawing of that state’s congressional districts in recent days could be a politically historic event as the numbers show blatant partisan deception in the past. What’s more, conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was the high court messenger to Pennsylvania GOP legislators that their appeal attempt would not be heard by the nation’s highest court.

The bottom line is that the GOP’s anti-democratic gerrymandering efforts in many states have falsely claimed that certain restrictions – mostly the federal Voting Rights Act, which prevents chopping up largely black areas into various districts – result in the current, convoluted maps.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, with the help of independent experts over just a 2-week period, was able to destroy the self-centered lines drawn by Republican politicians.  The map they created will produced a likely GOP edge in congressional races of just 10-8.

Several ridiculously drawn congressional districts across the nation, with numerous squiggly lines, including the 14th District in southeast Michigan, have fueled widespread calls for redistricting reform. The 14th snakes through the Detroit riverfront south of Belle Isle, across the northern section of the inner city bordering Eight Mile, through Southfield, the tony areas of Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield, to Pontiac.

The blatantly partisan districts demonstrated below are among the most infamous, and it should be pointed out that Maryland’s 3rd District was the product of Democratic shenanigans.

Both parties play this game.