Eric Holder Statement on North Carolina The Supreme Court Striking Down Gerrymandered Maps
Eric Holder Statement on North Carolina The Supreme Court Striking Down Gerrymandered Maps
Washington, D.C. — Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, released the following statement in response to the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in a case supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), striking down the state’s new congressional and state legislative maps:
“Despite past court orders to redraw gerrymandered maps and instead of listening to the people, Republican legislators arrogantly decided to pass maps that were heavily manipulated in favor of their party and took deserved political power from the most populous and diverse areas of the state. They created a facade of transparency by pulling together hurried hearings when these maps were proposed. The ugly truth is that they structured those hearings to prevent most North Carolinians from engaging and ignored the voices of those who were able to participate.
“Republicans conducted an anti-democratic process and gerrymandered, because they thought they could get away with it. In doing so, they underestimated the tenacity of North Carolinians and our preparedness to fight for the right to vote in free and fair elections.
“We look forward to participating in the redrawing process and continuing to fight for fair maps that accurately reflect the growth, diversity and people of North Carolina.”
Today’s landmark ruling in Harper v. Hall from the North Carolina Supreme Court is the first time the state’s high court has so plainly and clearly said, “Achieving partisan advantage incommensurate with a political party’s level of statewide voter support is neither a compelling nor a legitimate governmental interest.” The Court ordered the General Assembly to submit constitutional plans for review to the trial court on or before February 18, 2022.
This historic decision follows years of work challenging gerrymandered maps in the Tar Heel State by Eric Holder and the National Redistricting Foundation. Both the court-ordered redraw of the maps, and the speed with which the decision was delivered may not have been possible without the NRF's prior North Carolina litigation.
This lawsuit was filed by the same plaintiff group that successfully challenged the 2016 congressional plan as a partisan gerrymander in 2019, represented by counsel from the Elias Law Group, Arnold & Porter, and Patterson Harkavy. In response to the 2019 legal challenge supported by NRF, a lower court ruled a map favoring Republicans with ten of thirteen seats likely violated the North Carolina Constitution. Despite that previous ruling, the legislature again tried to draw a similarly extreme 10-3-1 gerrymander in 2021, locking in the same manufactured advantage for Republicans.
The full decision is available here.
###
Contact: Brooke Lillard | Lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org