Court Refused to ‘Approve a Racial Gerrymander Whose Necessity Is Supported by No Evidence and Whose Raison D’être Is a Legal Mistake’
The U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated two North Carolina congressional districts, ruling they were created for the purpose of illegally packing in Black voters. Justice Elena Kagan called the creation by Republicans a “racial gerrymander” and a “legal mistake.” The Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that said the districts, which were drawn in 2011, were illegal, the News & Observer reports.
This is District 1 as drawn in 2011, which the Court today struck down:
“Although States enjoy leeway to take race-based actions reasonably judged necessary under a proper interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, that latitude cannot rescue District 1,” Justice Elena Kagan said in her majority opinion, as The Hill reports.
“We by no means ‘insist that a state legislature, when redistricting, determine precisely what percent minority population demands.’ But neither will we approve a racial gerrymander whose necessity is supported by no evidence and whose raison d’être is a legal mistake.â€
The second district the court struck down, District 12 is seen here:
The goal apparently was to dilute the voting power of African Americans in the Tar Heel State, by consolidating them into just two voting districts.
These two districts were drawn in 2016 after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Republicans had previously drawn congressional districts for the same purpose, along racial lines.
The court voted separately on each of the two districts.
“The vote was 8-0 to strike down the District 1 map, and 5-3 to strike down the District 12 map,” CNN reports.
It’s unclear right now if the districts re-drawn in 2016 will also be invalidated.
Here’s a 2016 WNCN news report on the districts that needed to be re-drawn:
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Image: Screenshot via CBS North Carolina/YouTube