Is the Science of Redistricting Possible in an Adversarial Legal System?

The incorporation of scientific methods into redistricting litigation has generated considerable optimism. However, for politically charged disputes such as redistricting, embedding scientific rigor within the judicial process faces substantial hurdles. The adversarial process, by design, is inclined to reward rhetorical force over epistemic integrity. While science may provide important insight, to gain such insight we must guard against its distortion and strategic misuse. Ultimately, we must also realize that the task of defining fairness in political representation is a deeply philosophical and normative exercise that belongs to the polity and its democratic institutions, where science can serve in a clarifying but not determinative role.