Eric Holder Statement on North Carolina Supreme Court’s Reconsideration of Landmark Redistricting Decision
Contact
Jena Doyle
doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org
Eric Holder Statement on North Carolina Supreme Court’s Reconsideration of Landmark Redistricting Decision
Washington, D.C.— Today, the North Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral argument as it reconsiders its most recent decision in Harper v. Hall, a landmark state redistricting case. The North Carolina Supreme Court’s prior decision in this case was issued in December 2022, when it struck down the state Senate map as an unconstitutional gerrymander and upheld a lower court’s implementation of a fair congressional map. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), is supporting North Carolina voters in this case.
“Let me be very clear: neither the map nor the law has changed, only the composition of the Court. It is my hope that the Court applies the law without bias or political agenda and puts a halt to Republican attempts to undermine free elections through egregious gerrymandering,” said Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States.
“Given that the facts, the law, and controlling precedent are on the side of fair maps, this should be an easy decision for a Court that adheres to traditional legal and judicial norms. The composition of Court personnel should not supersede legal principle in determining the outcome of any case, and yet North Carolina Republicans filed their motion for rehearing believing just that. Republicans have made gerrymandering central to their political strategy for the years to come and they will do whatever it takes to gerrymander – if it means trying to break the basic tenets and norms of our justice system, so be it. At this moment, the North Carolina Supreme Court has a chance to prove this cynical political plot wrong. Should it fail at this chance the Court will put into play serious – and unnecessary – questions about its legitimacy,” Holder concluded.
###
