North Carolina League of Conservation Voters v. Hall and Harper v. Hall (consolidated) – Redistricting (NC)
NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT
In This Resource
On January 6, 2022, the North Carolina Superior Court in Wake County accepted a motion by former Governors Michael F. Easley of North Carolina, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, William F. Weld of Massachusetts, and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey to file an amicus brief in support of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and others in the case North Carolina League of Conservation Voters v. Hall and Harper v. Hall (consolidated). The States United Democracy Center and Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd served as pro-bono counsel on the brief.
In the case, the plaintiffs, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and others, are challenging the gerrymandered congressional and state legislature district maps passed by the state’s General Assembly. The former governors (Amicus Curiae) explained that extreme partisan gerrymandering inflicts incalculable harm on democracy, undermining fair governance and violating people’s fundamental rights as set forth in the North Carolina Constitution. In the brief, amici demonstrated the far-reaching negative effects of the new redistricting maps in question and argued that the court should conduct robust judicial review to eradicate the practice of partisan gerrymandering.
After a hearing on January 11, a three-judge panel issued an opinion finding that the state legislature had an intent to partisan gerrymander and that the resulting maps showed a partisan gerrymander, but that there was no violation of state constitutional provisions. The plaintiffs appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
At the time of the filing of the amicus brief, the case was under review in North Carolina Superior Court.