Charlotte Observer: NC case at Supreme Court ‘should keep every American up at night,’ ex-AG Eric Holder says

Charlotte Observer: NC case at Supreme Court ‘should keep every American up at night,’ ex-AG Eric Holder says

Bob Phillips, director of Common Cause North Carolina, said court oversight is important. He noted that every election here in the last decade was held using Republican-drawn maps that were later ruled unconstitutional, for either racial or partisan gerrymandering. “We feel strongly that the state courts should not be taken out of the equation,” Phillips said in a media briefing this month. His briefing, as well as Holder’s, focused mostly on turning the national media’s attention toward the North Carolina case. Reporters for outlets like CNN, NBC, CBS and Politico attended. Kathay Feng, who leads Common Cause’s national redistricting efforts, said it’s not only Republican-led states that gerrymander their congressional maps. She pointed to New York and Maryland as examples of Democratic gerrymandering.

A North Carolina lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court could undermine democracy as we know it, by allowing state legislators to override popular opinion in elections for Congress and possibly even the presidency, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters.

“That potential result, I think, should keep every American up at night,” Holder said in a Q&A session last week.

The main focus is on gerrymandering. If North Carolina lawmakers win the case, states would have free rein to draw congressional district maps that artificially inflate the power of whichever political party controls the state legislature.  …

Locally and nationally, however, advocates are trying to get even more attention on the lawsuit.

Bob Phillips, director of Common Cause North Carolina, said court oversight is important. He noted that every election here in the last decade was held using Republican-drawn maps that were later ruled unconstitutional, for either racial or partisan gerrymandering.

In a domino effect, those cases ultimately led to a ruling last month from the N.C. Supreme Court that when Republicans held a supermajority at the N.C. General Assembly, it was likely only due to racial gerrymandering. Therefore, the justices wrote in a 4-3 ruling, with every Republican justice dissenting, GOP lawmakers lacked the legitimacy to put constitutional amendments related to voter ID and income taxes on the ballot in 2018.

“We feel strongly that the state courts should not be taken out of the equation,” Phillips said in a media briefing this month.

His briefing, as well as Holder’s, focused mostly on turning the national media’s attention toward the North Carolina case. Reporters for outlets like CNN, NBC, CBS and Politico attended.

Kathay Feng, who leads Common Cause’s national redistricting efforts, said it’s not only Republican-led states that gerrymander their congressional maps. She pointed to New York and Maryland as examples of Democratic gerrymandering.