A decision in the North Carolina gerrymandering case could affect ongoing court battles in Kentucky, New Mexico and Utah.
North Carolina’s top Republican lawmakers contend they can’t. Rather, they assert that the U.S. Constitution gives power over federal elections only to state legislatures and Congress — an argument known as the “independent state legislature” theory. A broad embrace of the theory by the high court could upend hundreds of election laws across the U.S.
Republicans controlled more state capitols after the 2010 census and used redistricting to their advantage, prompting a flurry of lawsuits from Democrats. Those suits culminated in 2019, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in another North Carolina case that federal courts have no role in deciding partisan gerrymandering disputes. Even so, the majority opinion suggested that state courts still could hear such claims.
In 2019, a panel of North Carolina judges used similar reasoning to block U.S. House districts passed by the Republican-led General Assembly. They said the districts likely ran afoul of state constitutional provisions guaranteeing “free” elections, “equal protection of the laws” and the right to free speech and assembly. The legislature subsequently passed revised districts for the 2020 election, and the GOP’s congressional majority over Democrats shrunk from 10-3 to 8-5.
In Kentucky, Democrats have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that partisan gerrymandering is not prohibited by the state constitution. The lawsuit against the U.S. House districts enacted by the Republican-led Legislature cites the state constitution’s guarantee of “free and equal” elections.
It’s unclear whether the nation’s high court will take up the Ohio case. But a decision in favor of North Carolina’s GOP lawmakers could pave the way for Ohio’s Republican officials to ignore their own court’s directives.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Supreme Court readies to weigh in on ‘most important case’ on democracyThe Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case, a Republican-led challenge asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency. Hmm, I wonder what they’ll decide. 🤔 “Confront”? “Confront”?! Is that how it works? The SCOTUS confronts litigants? You bunch of hacks. Trib Pravda. The states regulate elections. The only threat to democracy would be allowing that patented IL election fraud which installed Biden into a puppet WH doesn't permanently allow nationwide malfeasance.
Source: chicagotribune - 🏆 8. / 91 Read more »
U.S. Supreme Court to hear controversial case on gerrymandering, electionsThe court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP map violated the state constitution.
Source: clevelanddotcom - 🏆 301. / 63 Read more »
Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracyThe question for the justices is whether the U.S. Constitution’s provision giving state legislatures the power to make the rules about the “times, places and manner” of congressional elections cuts state courts out of the process. I trust the state courts less than I trust the Supreme Court, sad, Alaska used to be above all that trash!
Source: AKNewsNow - 🏆 460. / 53 Read more »
Supreme Court weighs 'most important case' on democracyThe court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by the state Supreme Court.
Source: 10News - 🏆 732. / 50 Read more »
Supreme Court taking up clash of religion and gay rightsThe Supreme Court is hearing the case of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, that’s the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court
Source: WOKVNews - 🏆 247. / 63 Read more »
Supreme Court taking up clash of religion and gay rightsThe Supreme Court is hearing the case of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, that’s the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court. They can push their LGBTQPEDO CULT on to Christians, but the world be damned if your 1st amendment religious right be protected by refusing service because of said religion. So I'm guessing money from the LGBT community isn't good enough. LGBTQ+ is a protected group. She doesn’t even make marriage sites currently and it is a test case. I think the court siding with her creates some massive loop holes and questions about if anyone can be discriminated against that I don’t think anyone would like to see.
Source: ksatnews - 🏆 442. / 53 Read more »