The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 6, 2023
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Carolina Journal – N.C. Supreme Court will rehear redistricting, voter ID cases in March
Associated Press – N. Carolina Supreme Court to rehear voter ID, redistricting
Democracy Docket – North Carolina Supreme Court Will Rehear Two Voting Rights Cases With New GOP Majority
All About Redistricting – Hall v. Harper
Brennan Center for Justice – Moore v. Harper, Explained
The Daily Tar Heel – Outgoing Democratic majority on NC Supreme Court blocks voter ID law
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause NC, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Legal Center, Democracy NC
Today’s Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
We have major developments in North Carolina today, where a power shift in the North Carolina Supreme Court may mean a return to gerrymandered maps and a strict voter ID requirement. It could also impact Moore v. Harper, the scary “independent state legislature” case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In November’s elections, the power shifted on the state’s high court, resulting in a 5-2 conservative majority. During the redistricting process, a more liberal court had denied efforts by GOP legislators to pass heavily gerrymandered Congressional and state voting district maps.
Soon after the new court was sworn in, Republican lawmakers requested a rehearing of Harper vs. Hall, the root case of Moore vs. Harper. On February 3rd, the AP and the Carolina Journal reported that the new court granted an “exceedingly rare” rehearing. Since 1993, only two rehearings were granted in 214 such requests.
Also to be reheard is Holmes v. Moore, which attempts to overturn a 2018 law requiring strict voter ID, challenged by the NAACP.
In her dissent over granting the rehearing, Justice Anita Earls wrote: “Not only does today’s display of raw partisanship call into question the impartiality of the courts, but it erodes the notion that the judicial branch has the institutional capacity to be a principled check on legislation that violates constitutional and human rights.”
Find articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.