The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 15, 2023
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – North Carolina Supreme Court Will Rehear Two Voting Rights Cases With New GOP Majority
Associated Press – N. Carolina justices quickly revisit redistricting, voter ID
NC Policy Watch – Organizers plan rally at the Capitol before Supreme Court hears voter ID, redistricting arguments
Scotus Blog – Justices order new briefing in Moore v. Harper as N.C. court prepares to rehear underlying dispute
Carolina Journal – US Supreme Court seeks information about impact of NC redistricting rehearing
Brennan Center for Justice – Moore v. Harper, Explained
Groups Taking Action:
Declaration for American Democracy, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause North Carolina, ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
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.
March 14th & 15th, the North Carolina Supreme Court re-hears two cases that it decided just last December– a highly irregular action. One case reduces forms of IDs that voters can use for elections. The other may disrupt the Moore v. Harper U.S. Supreme Court case and saddle North Carolina voters with gerrymandered Congressional districts.
Conservatives became a 5-2 majority of the state supreme court in January, and anti-voter legislators immediately filed to have the cases reheard. In a move a fellow justice called a “display of raw partisanship,” the new majority agreed to rehear both cases.
In Harper v. Hall, the state’s high court previously threw out the gerrymandered Congressional voting district maps in 2022 as unconstitutional. The case became the Moore v. Harper “independent state legislature” case in the U.S. Supreme Court, which was heard in December 2022.
The fringe ISL theory could give any state legislature complete authority over voting rules and elections – higher than courts or governors. The state court is expected to overturn Harper vs. Hall and likely make the SCOTUS case moot, but would also force North Carolinians into unfair gerrymandered voting maps.
In the second case, Holmes vs. Moore, the state court had ruled the legislature’s narrow voter ID requirements targeted Black and poor voters and was unconstitutional. It, too, is expected to be overturned by the new conservative majority.
We have more on the cases at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
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