Yesterday, a Federal 3-Judge Panel struck down
NC’s 13 Congressional districts because they found the map to be unconstitutionally
partisan in their application. The Judges said the map violates the Equal Protection
Clause, the First Amendment, and Article 1 of the Constitution.
After determining the unconstitutionality of
the district map, the panel gave North Carolina roughly 3 weeks (or until
January 29th) to redraw the map and file a new plan with the court
so that it will be in place before the 2018-midterm elections.
Judge James A.
Wynn of the 4th
US Circuit Court of Appeals authored the majority opinion. In it he wrote,
“Partisan gerrymandering runs contrary to numerous fundamental democratic
principles and individual rights.
North Carolina’s state Senate redistricting
chairman, Ralph Hise, told Reutere News that the GOP would appeal.
Meanwhile, Dallas Woodhouse, Executive Director
of the NC GOP, focused his ire at Wynn, an appointee of President Obama. As he
put it:
“This is a hostile takeover of the #NCGA and
legislative bodies across the US. It is incredibly disappointing that activist
Judge Jim Wynn is waging a personal, partisan, war on North Carolina
Republicans.”
It comes as no surprise that NC Democrats view
the ruling with a different lens. To wit, the state’s Democratic Party
applauded the decision. Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin issued the following
statement:
“Today’s ruling is a major victory for North
Carolina and people across the state whose voices were silenced by Republicans’
unconstitutional attempts to rig the system to their partisan advantage.” In
addition, he called upon the legislature to draw “fair, nonpartisan maps that
give North Carolina voters a voice.”
The NC General Assembly is the bicameral legislative
body in the state, consisting of a House and Senate. GOP legislators hold the
majority in both houses, and have enough votes to override any vetoes by the
state’s Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper.
Voting in the state has been split along Party
lines in recent statewide elections, such as for Governor or President.
However, Republicans control 10 of the state’s 13 House seats, versus 3 for
Democrats. North Carolina is currently home to the 10th largest
delegation in Congress.
This is the second time in 18 months that the
districts have been found unconstitutional. The panel found that while the
current version got rid of racial gerrymandering, this iteration gives
Republicans decided advantages for most seats. The latest lawsuit – filed by
election advocacy groups and Democrats – said the replacement for the racial
gerrymander contained unlawful partisan gerrymanders. The litigants argued that
GOP legislators went too far when they followed criteria designed to retain the
Party’s 10-3 majority.
During the debate, according to the order,
House redistricting Chief, representative David Lewis attempted to justify the
criteria by saying, “I think electing Republicans is better than electing
Democrats. So I drew the map to help foster what I think is better for the
country.” WTH?
Pursuant to questionable nature of Mr. Lewis’
reasoning, the court rendered the following response in it’s ruling:
“We find that the General Assembly drew and
enacted the 2016 plan with intent to subordinate the interests of
non-Republican voters and entrench Republican control of North Carolina’s
Congressional delegation. Judge Wynn, who wrote that, added, the evidence shows
the “plan achieved the General Assembly’s discriminatory partisan objective.”
According to Michael Li, a redistricting expert
at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, yesterday’s ruling is the
first time a federal court blocked a Congressional map because of partisan
gerrymandering. However, that is not a choice the Constitution allows, the
court said, in its 191-page ruling. Li went on to say that if the NC case were
upheld upon appeal, it would have far-reaching implications, noting:
“The court will have signaled that there are,
in fact, limits of how far you can go with partisan gerrymandering.”
It is all but a foregone conclusion that this
case will eventually wend its way to the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United
States). In America, the nature of things political has always been arranged in
a partisan order. However, since the election of Barack Obama as President
Barack Obama, the tension and intensity have been ratcheted up by the nth
power. That in itself is an odd thing, given the narrative frequently spun
after November 2008 is that we had entered something referred to as a
post-racial era. Let me make this perfectly clear, we did not transform,
mutate, or otherwise change to post-racial. Furthermore, it is not on the horizon.
I laud “Me Too,” and the “Time’s Up” addendum that augments the movement. Both
are long overdue. May the force be with them.
As for NC and our Congressional district maps,
it’s a work in progress. Similar to post-racial, we are not yet there. One day, perhaps! But for now, we are here…”NC General Assembly Back to the DrawingBoard: Déjà Vu All Over Again!”
I’m done; holla
back!
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