Legislative leaders bolster their case for U.S. Supreme Court action on congressional map | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is CJ Staff.

    State legislative leaders are giving U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts more reasons to back their request for emergency Supreme Court action on North Carolina's disputed congressional map.

    "The Elections Clause of the United States Constitution ... provides that 'The Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.' Absent prompt action by this Court, North Carolina's 2022 congressional elections will be conducted in defiance of this constitutional command," according to a brief filed Thursday by Republican legislative leaders.

    "That is because the courts of North Carolina have not once but twice invalidated the congressional maps drawn by the North Carolina General Assembly and have now replaced them with their own judicially preferred map," the brief continued.

    The new court filing arrives a day after plaintiffs in North Carolina's legal fight over election maps urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stay out of the dispute. Plaintiffs argue that the high court would be ignoring precedent. They say the justices would be interfering with state courts' interpretation of the N.C. Constitution.

    Lawyers working for Democratic N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein also oppose action from the U.S. Supreme Court. Stein's N.C. Justice Department lawyers represent the State Board of Elections in the case.

    "Respondents insist that immediate action by this Court enforcing the plain meaning of the Elections Clause will sow chaos both in the administration of North Carolina's 2022 congressional elections and in the broader jurisprudence of elections law in this country. Neither contention has merit," according to legislators' new brief.

    Lawmakers dispute the argument that U.S. Supreme Court involvement in the case would endanger North Carolina's May 17 primary date.

    "While the State Board [of Elections] informed the North Carolina courts that it would be 'preferable' for candidate filing for the primary to close on March 4, it indicated that if necessary the primary could be administered with a filing deadline as late as March 15," according to the legislators' brief. "What is more, the General Assembly remains in session to address any implementation issues that could be created by a decision of this Court. Indeed, the General Assembly already passed a bill delaying the primary to June 7, only to be met with a gubernatorial veto."

    "This Court should not allow the Governor's veto coupled with the state courts' pursuit of a course of action carefully timed to run out the clock on the deadlines asserted by the executive branch to preclude review in this case."

    Legislators also push back against the argument that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling would force sweeping changes in election law nationwide.

    "All the Court need hold to rule in Applicants' favor is that the Elections Clause does not allow a state court to usurp the General Assembly's authority under that provision by seizing upon an abstract and broadly worded provision of the state's constitution ... to impose its own policy determinations," according to the brief.

    Even if Roberts and his Supreme Court colleagues decide not to block the court-drawn map for the 2022 election, the case doesn't have to end.

    "While an immediate stay is needed to prevent the grave and irreparable harm that the actions of the courts below will inflict this congressional cycle, even absent a stay a live dispute would remain as this issue will recur in future election cycles," legislative leaders argued. "Indeed, a ruling reversing the North Carolina Supreme Court's judgment invalidating the General Assembly's original congressional map would reinstate that map for future cycles."

    There's no deadline for a ruling from Roberts. He can act on his own or refer the request to the full nine-member U.S. Supreme Court for consideration.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




UNC System schools, private universities begin transition to mask-optional policies Carolina Journal, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Ukrainian priest glad for support, but doesn’t see a good end to war with Russia


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024
Biden spending and energy policies to blame
Tuberculosis carried by illegal invaders has already infected Texas cattle

HbAD1

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
Gov. Roy Cooper seeks a temporary restraining order to block a law changing the composition of the State Board of Elections.
X owner Elon Musk mocked a news segment from ABC News this week that promoted President Joe Biden’s talking points about the Democrat-led Senate’s failed border bill, which critics and many experts have said would make the situation on the border worse.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.

HbAD2

The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top