The Court's role was narrowly defined by the Democratic-controlled legislature. The justices were given instructions to hire two experts —
one nominated by Republican legislators, the other by Democratic legislators — and to direct the experts to "work together"
to create a single map. Within a few weeks, the mapmakers produced their work that they said would not disadvantage either party.
The Court's plan, however, did disadvantage one class of people: incumbent legislators. Back when legislators controlled the process,
they were careful to protect their own interests. But the Court's mapmakers deliberately were blind to where legislators lived.
The result was that half of 140 state legislators were placed in the same districts, many of them with members of the same political party.
This created a slew of open seats and left many incumbents with the choice of moving to another district, retiring, or facing off against
a fellow legislator in a primary or general election.