As a reflection of just how partisan the American judicial system has become in recent years, on Friday, in North Carolina– which elects its justices– the state’s highest court reversed itself and declared that the maps of the state’s legislative and congressional districts drawn to give Republicans lopsided majorities, were not illegal gerrymanders (i.e. illegal manipulations of electoral boundaries to favor one group. This will have a major impact nationwide.
What’s stunning about this move is that the Court looked at the same facts that it did in its original holding. The ruling was 5-2 along Republican-Democrat lines, and the majority of justices said the North Carolina Supreme Court had no authority to strike down partisan maps that the General Assembly had drawn.
“Our constitution expressly assigns the redistricting authority to the General Assembly subject to explicit limitations in the text,” Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote. “Were this court to create such a limitation, there is no judicially discoverable or manageable standard for adjudicating such claims.”
Meanwhile, the two Democrats in the minority were furious in dissent. Justice Anita Earls said that through the earlier ruling that’s now vacated, “a Democratic-controlled Court carried out its sworn duty to uphold the state constitution’s guarantee of free elections, fair to all voters of both parties.”
The practical effect of this ruling is simple: the Republican-controlled General Assembly can now scrap the court-ordered State House, Senate, and congressional district boundaries that were used in elections last fall. They can now draw new maps skewed in Republicans’ favor for elections in 2024.
The state legislature in North Carolina is holding on tight to a veto-proof Republican majority so it surely would welcome fellow GOP members, but the real prize will be more Republican seats in the House of Representatives in Washington, which currently is just barely controlled by Republicans.
A challenge to the original ruling that held the North Carolina maps was unconstitutional, Moore v. Harper, has actually made it to the Supreme Court. However, with this latest decision from the state court, it seems the Supreme Court will now duck the case since it has been resolved. It also means, however, that the question will remain unsettled nationally as to whether state legislatures are to be held accountable by courts over their election maps.
North Carolina Republicans and their aligned groups that spent millions trying to elect conservatives to the court had much to celebrate with the ruling.
“The decisions handed down today by the NC Supreme Court have ensured that our constitution and the will of the people of North Carolina are honored,” North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said in a news release.
Former US Attorney General Eric Holder, who is heading a national Democratic group whose affiliate backed the redistricting litigation, said Friday’s decision was “a function of political personnel and partisan opportunism” by Republicans.
“History will not be kind to this court’s majority, which will now forever be stained for irreparably harming the legitimacy and reputation of North Carolina’s highest tribunal,” he added.
