OMG: Supreme Court strikes down North Carolina congressional district maps

[sheshe2]

The Supreme Court struck down two congressional district maps in North Carolina Monday, holding that the state had engaged in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.


The ruling is a victory for the black North Carolina voters who had argued the plans packed African-Americans in districts that already had a high percentage of African-Americans, thus diluting their presence in other districts.


As a result, the ruling sends the North Carolina legislature back to the drawing board -- with significant potential implications for the 2018 midterm elections. The state has been nearly split along partisan lines in recent statewide elections -- such as for governor and president -- but Republicans control 10 US House seats compared to only three for Democrats.


"The Constitution entrusts states with the job of designing congressional districts," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority. "But it also imposes an important constraint: A state may not use race as the predominant factor in drawing district lines unless it has a compelling reason."

Read More: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/north-carolina-gerrymander/

This is great news for African-American voters in North Carolina!

[longship]

1. Well, maybe a couple more Dem House seats in NC in 2018.

With a Dem governor, we'll see how far this can go.

Way to go, SCOTUS.

[sheshe2]

3. I'll take all the wins we can get, longship.

[Wawannabe]

2. Awesome news!

Thanks sheshe.

[sheshe2]

7. You are welcome, Wawannabe.

[NCTraveler]

4. K&R This is a BFD. nt.

[sheshe2]

5. Yes! It is a huge win. nt

[progressoid]

6. Whoa!

[JHan]

8. great news

[suffragette]

9. K&R for representation!

[ck4829]

10. Maybe there is yet some hope for North Carolina to become a democracy again

Last edited Tue May 23, 2017, 02:54 PM - Edit history (1)

[ms liberty]

11. This is great news for ALL citizens in NC

Not just the African Americans voters in NC.

[sprinkleeninow]

46. What you said! n/t

[L. Coyote]

12. Justice for All.

[L. Coyote]

38. K & R

[LessAspin]

13. Giving the 'devil' his due...

Link to tweet

[LessAspin]

17. It is amazing...

no matter how conservative...

Link to tweet

There were intelligent people that defended that.

[sheshe2]

18. Amazing that!

[calimary]

22. Welcome to DU, LessAspin!

WHOA! Those districts certainly were drawn - um - uh - "creatively."

I'm one who sometimes appreciates a plain ol' straight-line grid. Especially in cases like this.

[LessAspin]

35. Thanks

Gerrymandering...



is kind of crazy.

[7962]

30. That 12th is absolutely ridiculous, unless that string was surrounded by water!

At least the 1st was attached to a bigger parcel

[dchill]

32. !

[mark fromelko]

15. Can't get Link to Work

How did Gorsuch vote?

[sheshe2]

19. He wasn't on the bench at the time...

here is the link again
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/north-carolina-gerrymander/

[calimary]

21. That was my first question.

Yep - from the CNN story:

Two districts were at issue and the court split differently on its votes. In District 1, the legislature increased black voting age population from 47.6% to 52.65%. The court struck that map 8-0. The black majority voting population was also increased in District 12 from 43.7% to 50.66%. The court struck that map down 5-3.

Justice Neil Gorsuch didn't participate because he was not on the bench when the case was heard.

It STILL would have been voted down even if he had been able to vote on it. At best, that second map would have earned a 6-3 vote. At worst it would have been 5-4, so it still would have been struck down.

[sheshe2]

23. Thank god it was.

This is great news for NC, calimary.

[Amaryllis]

24. Gorsuch was my first question too.

[smirkymonkey]

16. K&R for exposure

This is great news!!

[sheshe2]

20. And

Thomas was the tie breaker!

Woot!

[Lucinda]

25. KNR

[mcar]

26. Very good news!

Hope lives.

[sheshe2]

27. +1

[iluvtennis]

28. Yay!

[Ligyron]

29. Been watching this since it began.

Fantastic result, honorable decision and didn't even need Gor-suck. Look at those two districts, I mean, come on?

We'll turn this country around yet, one victory at a time.

[dchill]

31. Great. So now can the NC voters sue the GOP for damages?

[wildeyed]

40. SCOTUS has STILL not addressed the fact that the General Assembly is illegitimate.

The NCGA maps are ALSO unconstitutional, yet they are still making laws. Like the budget that strips education $$ out of poor, black districts and siphons them into GOP leaning areas. How do they pay us back for that? And also, I want the 10 million hours I spent trashing them on Twitter, just since their December "special" session, back too.

It is so FUBAR, the only thing that would help is a freaking time machine.

[Gothmog]

33. Yeah

[redwitch]

34. Hallelujah!

This actually gives me hope!

[Scurrilous]

36. K&R

[kacekwl]

37. Good news

[wildeyed]

39. This is a victory for ALL North Carolinians who love democracy.

The are packing black voters into two districts that already elected black representatives when there was a lower percentage of blacks voting. As always, the NC GOP is 'fixing' a problem that didn't need fixing and conveniently benefits their partisan agenda. Sigh.....

If you want to nerd-out hard, check out Election Law Blog. There posts are way more nuanced than anything I read in MSM. This ruling is a big deal because it signals that SCOTUS might see party as a stand in for race in the South, which means that voting rights activists can go after PARTISAN gerrymandering under Voting Rights. Also, Thomas voted with majority and Kennedy did not.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. K&R and hope

they can get this straightened out before the next census.

We have a similar issue here with more registered Democrats than Republicans in PA yet there are 13 Rs & 5 Ds in our congressional delegation thanks to gerrymandering.

[sheshe2]

43. Hope some of that can change for you by 2018, then 2020, BRDS.

We have a lot of work to do to GOTV!

[rpannier]

42. 8-0 and 5-3

Those are great numbers
Pretty much sends a fairly strong signal to other states

[Dustlawyer]

44. Republicans say there is a compelling government interest in racial gerrymandering,

"We can't win without it!"

[SunSeeker]

45. K & R

[cstanleytech]

47. Clearly the Repugnants compelling reason in this case was to remain in power. nt

[YOHABLO]

48. Well MSNBC seems to be on their way to fill the gap. If you know what I mean.

[GoCubsGo]

49. Clarence Thomas, of all people, pushed it away from a tie.

He sided with the more liberal justices, rather than Roberts, Scalito and Kennedy. (Gorsuch recused himself--as he should for every decision from here on out.)

[not fooled]

50. Geez

What happened to Clarence? Twinge of conscience?