No. Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down State's New Redistricting Maps, Blow To GOP Legislature

- The Guardian, Feb. 4, 2022. Ed. - In a blow to the Republican legislature, the court rejected the maps saying they infringed upon the fundamental right to vote. -

A divided North Carolina supreme court struck down the state’s new maps for congressional and general assembly seats on Friday, declaring that state courts had authority to throw out lines engineered to secure a long-term Republican advantage in an otherwise closely divided state. By a 4-3 decision – with the justices who are registered Democrats making up the majority – the state’s highest court directed the GOP-controlled legislature to redraw the plans by 18 Feb. and provide an explanation of how they calculated the partisan fairness of the new boundaries.

The court’s decision reversed a ruling last month from a panel of three trial judges to let the maps stand, and declared partisan gerrymandering found in the redistricting approved by the legislature in November violated several provisions in the North Carolina constitution. They include the right to free elections, freedom of speech and equal protections of citizens.

“When, on the basis of partisanship, the general assembly enacts a districting plan that diminishes or dilutes a voter’s opportunity to aggregate with likeminded voters to elect a governing majority ... the general assembly unconstitutionally infringes upon that voter’s fundamental right to vote,” read the order of the court’s majority, signed by associate Justice Robin Hudson.

The trial judges had found ample evidence that the legislature approved maps that were “a result of intentional, pro-Republican partisan redistricting”. But they declared it wasn’t the judiciary’s place to intervene in mapmaking – a duty left to the legislature – when partisan fairness in those plans was challenged. They called the redistricting process inherently political and said many of the lawsuits’ claims fell outside the scope of legal redress. A majority on the supreme court disagreed, saying it’s the judiciary’s obligation to step in to block lines that skew a party’s control to the detriment of those with opposing viewpoints...

- More, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/04/north-carolina-supreme-court-redistricting-maps