Raleigh, NC— After a grueling twelve months of lawsuits, arguments, and debates, the NC Supreme Court recently issued a ruling upholding Republican-drawn and highly controversial congressional and legislative districts.
Opponents of the new districts quickly raised a legal challenge, arguing that the redistricting maps were overtly political and designed to dilute the impact of minority voters. Critics of the new redistricting also plan to highlight their reasoning and evidence as they file suit in front of the United States Supreme Court, but at this point, it is unclear whether the United States Supreme Court will hear the lawsuit.
“It is certainly regrettable that the NC Supreme Court has sanctioned the use of race bias by the NC General Assembly in an unlawful effort to promote and protect the political interests of extremist elements of the Republican Party,” Irving Joyner, a Durham attorney representing the NAACP, said. “This decision is contrary to any political redistricting effort that the US Supreme Court has ever approved.” Representative Baskerville shares this sentiment and went on to say “The fight for equal voting rights is just as important today as it was 50 years ago. We remain steadfast in those efforts.”
baskervillela@ncleg.net