Photo via Flickr user Mark Fischer
On Monday, the US Supreme Court decided that North Carolina violated the Constitution when it redrew two congressional districts to include more black voters, the Hill reports.After the 2010 census, North Carolina's lawmakers remapped a few districts, including the first and the 12th. Some voters argued the move diluted the black vote across the state, confining it to just a few districts that amounted to tokens for Democrats. Republicans, on the other hand, maintained they redrew the map based on partisan reasons alone, and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.But the court was unanimous in ruling lawmakers had relied too heavily on race to redraw District 1, and were split in a 5–3 majority regarding District 12, according to the New York Times."The evidence offered at trial, including live witness testimony subject to credibility determinations, adequately supports the conclusion that race, not politics, accounted for the district's reconfiguration," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her decision on District 12.Kagan was joined in her ruling by Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and the usually conservative-leaning Clarence Thomas. Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the case.The ruling may not impact the way North Carolina's map is drawn currently because the state already tweaked its district map after a lower court ruling. But it could make it easier for people to challenge gerrymandering in the years to come."This is a watershed moment in the fight to end racial gerrymandering," former attorney general Eric Holder Jr. said in a statement. "North Carolina's maps were among the worst racial gerrymanders in the nation."
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