LEGAL/RACISM/SUPREME COURT: “As North Carolina lawmakers rush to adopt new state legislative maps not based on race, they can’t escape the very issue they are trying to remove: race.
Both the state Senate and the House of Representatives have proposed new maps to address a lower-court ruling—upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court—that found the existing district lines discriminate against black voters. The proposed maps, unveiled in recent days by GOP-headed committees, would rejigger the boundaries for most of the 170 House and Senate districts.
The lower court said the legislature lacked adequate justification when it created 28 majority-black districts in 2011. Critics said African-American voters were packed into a relatively small swath of the state, hurting their power to shape outcomes elsewhere in North Carolina.
The Republican-led General Assembly faces a Sept. 1 court deadline to pass new district lines and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has no veto power. A three-judge panel will evaluate whether the new maps satisfy the court’s stipulations. The public will have a chance to weigh in Tuesday [8-22-17] at hearings around the state, and some Democrats are already crying foul.
When maps were redrawn recently, race wasn’t a factor, said state Rep. David Lewis, a Republican who oversaw revisions to a majority of the 120 House districts. A similar process guided changes in the Senate, which has 50 districts.”
-Scott Calvert, “North Carolina Lawmakers Rush to Pass New District Maps,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 21, 2017 05:17pm