# Special Master A neutral expert appointed by a court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53 (or a state analogue) to perform a task the court cannot practically do itself. In redistricting, a special master is the mechanism by which a court draws a remedial map after a legislature's map is struck down and the legislature fails or declines to produce a lawful replacement in the time allowed. The appointment is the point at which map-drawing passes out of elected hands entirely — which is why the timing of a ruling can matter more than its content.