#racialgerrymander — Public Fediverse posts

#SCOTUS set the stage for #Alabama to get rid of 1 of 2 largely #Black congressional districts before this year’s #midterms, creating an opening for #Republicans to gain an additional #US #House seat in a closely divided chamber.

The decision follows a SCOTUS ruling that struck down a majority-Black US House district in #Louisiana as an “unconstitutional” #RacialGerrymander, significantly weakening the federal #VotingRights Act.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt
https://apnews.com/article/alabama-redistricting-supreme-court-congress-ba371351585b79c2965f9efb0332f33d

The decision was a victory for #Republicans not only because it clears the way for a map that is favorable to the #GOP. It also sets a high bar for determining when a map can be considered a #RacialGerrymander, rather than a #partisan one. #SCOTUS has previously found the #Constitution bars racial #gerrymandering but that federal courts cannot police partisan gerrymandering.

#law #PartisanCourt #WhiteSupremacy #VoterSuppression #RepresentationMatters #ShelbyVHolder #VotingRights #VRA #VoteBlue

At issue for #SCOTUS was whether #SC’s new map, which was created by the #GOP-led state legislature & moved #BlackVoters from one district to another, was permitted to bolster a #Republican majority or was an #unconstitutional effort to divvy up voters by #race. The 6-3 #conservative majority reversed the lower court finding that the map was an unconstitutional #RacialGerrymander but gave #Black voters a chance to continue the case using a different argument.
#law #WhiteSupremacy #gerrymandering

Last yr the panel…found the map illegally split neighborhoods in the #Charleston area to make #NancyMace’s race easier. The new lines constituted a #RacialGerrymander that “exiled >30k African American citizens from their previous district,” the panel found.

In arguments before #SCOTUS in Oct, attys for #SouthCarolina argued that lawmakers had not relied on race to draw maps in violation of the #Constitution. Rather, they used #political info to decide…, they said.

#law #BlackVotesMatter

The #SupremeCourt in such #redistricting cases is obliged to either affirm the decision of the special 3-judge panel, overturn it, or schedule it for full briefing & argument, as it did in this case. SC asked #SCOTUS to schedule oral arguments at the beginning of its new term in October & issue a decision by Jan. 1 in order for the 2024 elections to proceed smoothly.

The case is Alexander v. The South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.

#Gerrymandering #Minoritarianism #RacialGerrymander

The judges found that SC’s mapmaker tried to keep the African American population below a certain target in the district, treating Charleston County “in a fundamentally different way than the rest of the state.”

#Gerrymandering #Minoritarianism #RacialGerrymander #SCOTUS

The 3-judge panel in Jan said the plan by the #Republican-led #legislature split #Black neighborhoods in the #Charleston area to create a “stark racial gerrymander.” After the changes, Rep Nancy Mace (R) coasted to victory over a Dem opponent, securing what has become a Republican-dominated 6 to 1 congressional delegation in the state.

#Gerrymandering #Minoritarianism #RacialGerrymander #SCOTUS

#SCOTUS to consider #SouthCarolina plan that ‘exiled’ #BlackVoters

The #SupremeCourt will consider SouthCarolina’s attempt to reinstate a congressional #redistricting plan that a lower court found had “exiled” 30k Black voters to create a district winnable for a #White #Republican candidate.

#Gerrymandering #Minoritarianism #RacialGerrymander
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/15/supreme-court-south-carolina-congressional-districts/