From The News & Observer: You don’t get ‘multiple opportunities’ to fix gerrymanders
Republicans in Raleigh are continuing to try to stall the redrawing of legislative maps. The latest attempt was to ask the courts to let them try again. They didn’t want an impartial special master appointed by the courts to redraw the maps, fearing the maps might actually be fair. The court told them they had their chance, no more stalling. Now it is up to Stanford University professor Nathaniel Persily to help correct the illegal districts.
The federal judges reviewing election maps for N.C. General Assembly candidates have questions about districts in Guilford, Hoke, Cumberland, Wake and Mecklenburg counties and have asked a Stanford University professor to draw new lines for the court by Dec. 1.
The judges — Catherine Eagles and Thomas Schroeder of the U.S. Middle District of North Carolina and James Wynn of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — rejected a request by state lawmakers to give them another chance to draw the lines.
“The State is not entitled to multiple opportunities to remedy its unconstitutional districts,” the judges said in their order released Wednesday.
In a ruling last week, the judges announced their plans to tap Stanford University professor Nathaniel Persily to help correct longstanding unconstitutional racial gerrymanders that have played a part in three election cycles since 2011, when Republicans gained control of the General Assembly and redrew legislative lines.
