Judges say N.C. congressional districts unconstitutionally gerrymandered to help GOP; new districts
Source: Washington Post
A panel of three federal judges held Monday that North Carolinas congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to aid Republicans over Democrats, and said it may require new districts before the November elections, possibly affecting control of the House.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/27/judges-say-n-c-congressional-districts-unconstitutionally-gerrymandered-to-help-gop-new-districts-may-be-required-before-november/
Solly Mack
(90,773 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)against democracy.
Any child looking at the NC congressional districts would vomit over the monstrous Frankenmap Republicans manufactured.
elleng
(130,974 posts)WHICH court? This is important news, take the time to inform us!
Marcuse
(7,488 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,010 posts)Marcuse
(7,488 posts)elleng
(130,974 posts)'The lower court will need to decide whether the plaintiffs had the proper legal standing to bring the case.
The Supreme Court recently considered the question of partisan gerrymandering in cases from Wisconsin and Maryland. The court has never found a map so infected by politics that it violated the constitutional rights of voters.
But the justices did not rule on the merits of the issue. The court said plaintiffs in Wisconsin did not have the proper legal standing and that the Maryland case was in too preliminary a stage.'
Marcuse
(7,488 posts)elleng
(130,974 posts)just 'A panel of three federal judges.'
WaPo had better get it's act together on this.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)elleng
(130,974 posts)A federal court in North Carolina on Monday struck down the states Republican-drawn congressional map.
The courts decision, first reported by HuffPost, mirrored that of a January decision, in which a three-judge panel in North Carolina also ruled the state's map was unconstitutional.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina found that Republicans had redrawn its map to favor their party after their first maps were struck down by the court as racial gerrymanders.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June sent the issue of partisan gerrymandering back down to the lower court.
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/403890-judge-strikes-down-north-carolina-district-maps-as-unconstitutional
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211059785
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)I sure hope so.
elleng
(130,974 posts)or NC will seek 'relief.' This is not the end, but an important chapter.
Timing is important, considering Nov. election.
FBaggins
(26,748 posts)They dodged the key question the first time around and sent it back for consideration on standing. Unless they choose to disagree on standing, they now have to grapple with the key question of how to determine an impermissibly political gerrymander.
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)Apparently this is the third time the court has found NC's districts to be too partisanly gerry-mandered. They don't want to let yet another cycle go by using the current map.
It sounds crazy, but the PA state supreme court also gave a very short deadline for the state legislature and gov to come up with a new, fairer map before the June primaries. When the legislature produced yet another partisan gerrymandered map, the court drew up a new one in a matter of a couple days.
The Supreme Court is currently 4-4 so whatever the lower court decides is very likely to stick at least for this cycle.