(2000)

Dear The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.

You have asked for our opinion concerning one of the constitutional requirements that governs the drawing of legislative districts in Maryland. Specifically, you have asked whether a district that is intersected by navigable water satisfies the requirement of contiguity — i.e., that the district consist of adjoining territory — when no bridge, tunnel, or ferry connects the land on either side of the water.

Following a review of the history of the constitutional provision, Maryland case law, and case law on analogous provisions in other…