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VICTORY! – On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Moore v. Harper, holding that state legislatures “are bound by state constitutional restraints when exercising authority under the Elections Clause.” A worst-case ruling in this case would have handed partisan state lawmakers the power to manipulate our elections and undermine our votes.

Read our press release here.

 

 

Watch Common Cause’s National Redistricting Director Kathay Feng speak last December with Symone Sanders-Townsend on MSNBC about this high-stakes case.

BACKGROUND

On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper. North Carolina Republican legislators are attempting a partisan power grab after the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down their illegal congressional gerrymander and adopted a map drawn by the Court’s special masters. The NC legislators argue that a radical legal concept, the so-called “independent state legislature theory,” allows them to manipulate congressional districts with no oversight from state courts. Read our press release here.

On December 13, 2021, Common Cause North Carolina, represented by Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Hogan Lovells, intervened in the consolidated cases of Harper v. Hall and League of Conservation Voters v. Hall. Specifically, we argued that the North Carolina Legislature’s process for drawing state legislative and Congressional voting maps ignored long-standing precedent and resulted in extreme partisan gerrymanders in violation of the North Carolina State Constitution. The motion to intervene challenged the Legislature’s maps themselves, alleging that state legislators crafted illegal partisan gerrymanders with devastating consequences for Black voters and their ability to elect the candidates of their choice.

On February 4, 2022, The North Carolina Supreme Court found that the House, Senate, and Congressional maps drawn by the NC General Assembly were unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders in violation of North Carolina law. The three-judge panel adopted the redrawn House and Senate maps and drew a new congressional map. The NC Supreme Court refused to stay implementation of the maps.

The Legislative Defendants then filed an Emergency Stay Application at the Supreme Court of the United States asking SCOTUS to stay the implementation of the new congressional map. We filed a brief in opposition arguing that this request is untimely, unnecessary, and would require SCOTUS to overturn decades of precedent and judicial process.

On March 7, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court rejected North Carolina lawmakers’ attempts to reinstate gerrymandered congressional maps.

On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case and heard oral arguments on December 7, 2022. We filed a brief opposing the historically baseless “independent state legislature theory” on October 19, 2022. Common Cause, alongside all other non-state respondents, argued that the constitutional text, structure, history, and precedent make clear that this theory must fail and the consequences of the “independent state legislature theory” would upend elections nationwide. Read our brief here.

In January 2023, Republican legislators petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to toss out precedent, re-hear the underlying case Harper v. Hall, and overturn our victory against partisan gerrymandering. Although we filed a motion to dismiss this frivolous petition—a petition that has absolutely no basis in law—the North Carolina Supreme Court held a rehearing in March 2023 and issued an opinion overturning key protections against partisan gerrymandering in April 2023. 
 
The federal Supreme Court requested two supplemental briefings, one inquiring parties in the case on how the rehearing at the state supreme court impacts Moore v. Harper, and one asking how the April 2023 decision impacts their jurisdiction over the case. In both briefs, we made clear that the Court still holds jurisdiction over this case, and that the Court must make a decision to stop the dangerous independent state legislature theory. Read more about our March brief here, and our May brief here.

 

Review both the previously invalidated and 2022 approved Congressional plans below.

Five Key Things to Know about the Case Six Reasons Why the ISL Theory Makes No Sense Highlighted Amicus Briefs

Selected Filings:

Supreme Court of the United States

NC Supreme Court Appeal on Remedial Maps

Superior Court Three-Judge Panel Remedy Stage

NC Supreme Court First Appeal

Superior Court Three-Judge Panel Trial

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