Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Neal Katyal, an attorney for Common Cause, a voting rights group that was among the challengers to the map, disagreed: "The court should, if at all possible, decide this question now, rather than on an emergency basis during the 2024 election cycle."

But Common Cause, a group that opposes the GOP lawmakers, disagreed with the position taken by its own side and urged the justices to decide the case. Neal Katyal, a lawyer for the group, stressed that the court should use the North Carolina case to decide the Independent State Legislature doctrine issue rather than wait until it arises again on an emergency basis “during the 2024 election cycle.”

The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the dangerous and fringe independent state legislature theory (ISLT) presented in Moore v. Harper regardless of the highly unusual decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court to rehear the remedial decision in Harper v. Hall, according to a new plaintiff’s letter responding to the high court.

“Now the legislative defendants play a cynical game, hoping that this newly constituted court will reverse course and abdicate its fundamental duty of judicial review,” said Lali Madduri, an attorney speaking Tuesday in court for Common Cause, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and citizens like Harper.

“A lot of our maps here are drawn behind closed doors, and there’s not a lot of input from the public that’s able to be given,” said Morgan Drayton, policy and engagement manager at Common Cause Maryland. “So this would do a lot to make these processes more transparent.”

This is the first time in 30 years that the court has decided to rehear two cases, said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. "I do think that North Carolina, unfortunately, is often looked upon as a model for bad democracy and can be the playbook for other states," Phillips said. "And we're almost like the laboratory for some of this, that we think is extremely harmful."