SCOTUS Seeks Clearer Rules for Drawing Voter Lines

The U.S. Supreme Court was searching for clarity in a murky area of the law in a redistricting double-header at the court Dec. 5.

The court heard racial gerrymandering challenges to Virginia and North Carolina redistricting maps. At issue is whether those states unconstitutionally allowed race to “predominate” during the redistricting process.

It was unclear following oral arguments which way the court was likely to go. The justices struggled with the need to provide plaintiffs with flexibility to prove that states unconstitutionally considered race when drawing new voter maps, and the need to provide states with the flexibility to actually ...