On Thursday, Reuters reported that the U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June on the contentious practice called partisan gerrymandering in which state legislators draw electoral maps designed to entrench their own party in power. Ohio last month became the eighth state to turn to some form of a separate commission for redrawing U.S. House of Representatives districts. Partisan gerrymandering dates back two centuries, but critics have said it has become more extreme and has begun to warp democracy.