RALEIGH, N.C. — In an extreme departure from precedent, the North Carolina Supreme Court announced Friday it would rehear two cases — one involving statewide redistricting and the other involving a discriminatory voter ID bill — after Republican lawmakers petitioned for a different outcome following the election of new justices, which flipped the court to a Republican majority.
Lawmakers filed two petitions for rehearings January 20, 2023: one in Harper c. Hall — a case brought by Common Cause North Carolina after lawmakers gerrymandered legislative and Congressional maps to give Republicans an edge at the disproportionate expense of Black voters — and the other in Holmes contre Moore après une décision prise le mois dernier a annulé leur dernière version de la loi sur l'identification des électeurs par photo, la considérant comme une mesure inconstitutionnelle adoptée en partie pour discriminer les électeurs afro-américains.
“The state Supreme Court’s landmark ruling just last year was clear that partisan gerrymandering violates the constitutional freedoms of North Carolinians,” said Bob Phillips, directeur exécutif de Common Cause North Carolina. “Sadly, politicians in the legislature refuse to respect our rights as they seek power to illegally rig our elections. This fight is not over. Once again, we will stand up for the people of North Carolina and defend our state’s constitution against political attacks.”
Common Cause, represented by Southern Coalition for Social Justice and co-counsel Hogan Lovells, asked the Court to dismiss lawmakers’ request in Harper as frivolous, improperly motivated and grossly lacking in the requirements of propriety.
“We’re disappointed the Court is giving legislators another bite at the apple, and we maintain that this is politically motivated and outside the scope of what’s permitted by the Constitution,” said Hilary Harris Klein, avocate principale pour le droit de vote à la Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “However, we look forward to arguing this case again before the Court and showing what already has been captured on the record.”
Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls wrote a dissent, with Justice Michael Morgan joining, to the majority’s decision to rehear Harper.
“The majority’s order fails to acknowledge the radical break with 205 years of history that the decision to rehear this case represents,” Earls wrote. “It has long been the practice of this Court to respect precedent and the principle that once the Court has ruled, that ruling will not be disturbed merely because of a change in the Court’s composition.”
She added that data from the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system shows that since January 1993, a total of 214 petitions for rehearing were filed, but only two were granted.
Harper will be reheard by the Court on March 14, 2023.
Dans Holmes, the state’s high court already decided in December to strike down lawmakers’ most recent iteration of a photo voter ID law as an unconstitutional measure passed in part to discriminate against African American voters.
The Court majority also calendared that matter to be reheard on March 14, 2023.
“This certainly isn’t the outcome we’d hoped for, especially in a settled case with the legislators reasserting the exact same contentions they previously argued unsuccessfully, but we will continue to fight for the rights of all people in North Carolina to vote freely and fairly and look forward to making that case again before the new Court,” said Jeff Loperfido, conseiller juridique en chef par intérim pour le droit de vote à la Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
The case was originally filed by Southern Coalition for Social Justice joined by co-counsel from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, in December 2018. It alleged North Carolina’s 2018 voter ID law (S.B. 824), approved by a Republican-led supermajority in a lame-duck session, was racially motivated.
Justice Morgan wrote a dissent in Holmes with Justice Earls joining.
“The allowance of this extraordinary remedy to petitioners in this case, under the existent circumstances, may serve to foment concerns that North Carolina’s highest state court is engaged in the determination of challenging and legitimate legal disputes with a perceived desire to reach outcomes which are inconsistent with this Court’s well-established principles of adherence to legal precedent, stare decisis, and the rule of law,” Morgan wrote.
Contacts médias:
Bryan Warner, Cause commune | bwarner@commoncause.org | 919-836-0027
Mélissa Boughton, SCSJ | melissa@scsj.org | 830-481-6901
Cause commune en Caroline du Nord est une organisation populaire non partisane qui se consacre à la défense des valeurs fondamentales de la démocratie américaine. Nous travaillons à créer un gouvernement ouvert, honnête et responsable qui sert l'intérêt public ; à promouvoir l'égalité des droits, des opportunités et de la représentation pour tous ; et à permettre à tous de faire entendre leur voix dans le processus politique.
La Southern Coalition for Social Justice, fondée en 2007, s'associe aux communautés de couleur et aux communautés économiquement défavorisées du Sud pour défendre et faire progresser leurs droits politiques, sociaux et économiques grâce à une combinaison de plaidoyer juridique, de recherche, d'organisation et de communication. Pour en savoir plus, consultez le site coalitiondusud.org et suivez notre travail sur Gazouillement, Facebook, et Instagram.