[This post is in progress.]
In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling holding that South Carolina’s congressional map was a racial gerrymandering. Justice Thomas concurred, and Justice Kagan, for the three liberal justices dissented. The majority did something rare: it rejected the factual findings of the lower court, something the Court only is supposed to do when those lower court findings are clearly erroneous.
This area of the law is unduly complex, so let me begin with a bottom line practical assessment of today’s case before wading into the weeds: Justice Alito for a court majority has once again come up with a legal framework that makes it easier for Republican states to engage in redistricting to help white Republicans maximize their political power. He did so by reversing the burden of proof that should apply in these cases in two ways to favor these states: pushing a “presumption of good faith” and raising the evidentiary burdens for those challenging the maps.
Once upon a time racial gerrymandering claims were brought by white Republicans in the South to stop the creation of more districts in which minority voters could elect candidates of their choice. The US Department of Justice was essentially forcing the states to draw these districts under DOJ’s interpretation of the Voting Rights Act. The new racial gerrrymandering