You'd never know it, but originally Congressional districts were meant to be of equal, rectangular shapes.* Actually Patrick Henry originated unfair redistricting more than 20 years before the event that coined the term "gerrymandering," a race for the state senate in Massachusetts. Henry wanted his favorite U.S. Congressional candidate, James Monroe, to defeat James Madison in Virginia, but the latter prevailed narrowly. This WaPo article describes events as they've evolved most lately and what can be done, a suggestion that's not new but always worth considering, one that people have favored when it's been offered via referendums.
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*I can't find the source for this now--I read of it years ago and was surprised. Today representation is supposed to be determined by population size and is too often determined by partisanship, legally, according to a recent SCOTUS decision.
At www.washingtonpost.com
