Arizona Supreme Court overturns Colleen Mathis' ouster from redistricting commission

Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer is today's Biggest Loser

WOW! Just wow:

The Arizona Supreme Court has overturned Gov. Jan Brewer's politically charged removal of the chair of the state redistricting commission and ordering the official's reinstatement.

The court's order issued late Thursday says Brewer's removal letter failed to demonstrate that Colleen Mathis engaged in conduct that gave Brewer constitutional grounds for removal.

Mathis and the Independent Redistricting Commission had challenged her removal, which interrupted the commission's once-a-decade drawing of new congressional and redistricting maps.

This is a massively humiliating turn of events for Brewer—and an awesome win for the rule of law. (For the complete background, click here and here.) I'm somewhat surprised that the court decided to get involved in this matter at all, seeing as they could have regarded the entire issue as a "political question" unfit for the legal system, but I'm delighted that they made the right call here.

So what happens next? Well, simply put, the commission can get back to work. It published draft congressional and legislative maps last month, and since then, the commissioners have been hearing public feedback and have indicated that they plan to make changes to the maps in response. Once the revised maps are issued, they can then be finalized and put in place for next year's elections. And while I wouldn't rule anything out, I just don't see how Brewer and her cronies can interfere any further at this point.

Game, set, map.

5:32 PM PT: Link (PDF) to the court's order.