Breaking: SCOTUS to Hear NC Racial Gerrymandering Case

This morning the Supreme Court agreed to hear a racial gerrymandering case from North Carolina, on an appeal brought by the state (in McCrory v. Harris).  This joins the Bethune-Hill case from Virginia, which the Court also agreed to hear.

In Bethune Hill, the three-judge court on a divided basis concluded there was no racial gerrymander.  In the North Carolina case, the three-judge court found there was a racial gerrymander.

I expect the Court will consider the cases together, even if they are not formally consolidatated.

Assuming there are no new Justices before these cases are heard and the Justices vote the way they voted before in the Alabama racial gerrymandering case, we go in with a 5-3 Court at least sympathetic to such claims in the abstract brought by minority plaintiffs against Republicans.  Kennedy sided with the liberals in the Alabama case.

You can find NC’s six questions presented in this jurisdictional statement.

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