U.S. top court tosses Republican-drawn North Carolina voting districts
Source: Reuters
Mon May 22, 2017 10:29am EDT
By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Republicans in North Carolina unlawfully took race into consideration when drawing congressional district boundaries, concentrating black voters in a bid to diminish their overall political clout.
The justices upheld a lower court's February 2016 ruling that threw out two majority-black U.S. House of Representatives districts because Republican lawmakers improperly used race as a factor when redrawing the legislative map after the 2010 census. The court was unanimous on upholding the ruling on one of the districts and split 5-3 on the other, with three conservatives dissenting.
The decision came in one of a number of lawsuits accusing Republicans of taking steps at the state level to disenfranchise black and other minority voters who tend to back Democratic candidates.
Critics accused Republicans of cramming black voters into what the NAACP civil rights group called "apartheid voting districts" to diminish their voting power and make surrounding districts more white and more likely to support Republicans. Both districts are held by the Democrats. Of North Carolina's 13 representatives in the U.S. House, 10 are Republican.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-voters-idUSKBN18I1SG?il=0
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Supreme Court strikes down NC districts as illegally based on race
BY LYDIA WHEELER - 05/22/17 10:38 AM EDT
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that North Carolina illegally packed black voters into two voting districts.
In a 5-3 ruling, the justices affirmed the decision of a lower court. That ruling said North Carolina officials used race as the predominant factor in drawing district lines without a compelling reason when they created two districts — the 1st District and the 12th District — with majority-black voting-age populations. Both of those districts are represented by Democrats; Rep. G.K. Butterfield represents the 1st District, while Rep. Alma Adams represents the 12th District.
“Although States enjoy leeway to take race-based actions reasonably judged necessary under a proper interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, that latitude cannot rescue District 1," Justice Elena Kagan said in delivering the opinion of the court.
“We by no means ‘insist that a state legislature, when redistricting, determine precisely what percent minority population demands.’ But neither will we approve a racial gerrymander whose necessity is supported by no evidence and whose raison d’être is a legal mistake.”
more
http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/334529-supreme-court-strikes-down-nc-districts-as-illegally-based-on-race
= new reply since forum marked as read
Based on registered voters in either party, the PA delegation should be 10 Democrats - 8 Republicans or at least 9/9, instead of the current 13 Republicans - 5 Democrats (with 3 of them being in or mostly including the city of Philadelphia).
The most egregious - PA-7 was drawn all around smaller urban areas and suburbs with larger minority populations, to create a multi-tentacled monstrosity -
Just one more Democratic appointee and we would still have it 
