Justices also decide for themselves whether to step aside from cases involving a possible conflict of interest. They are subject, as many high-level federal officials are, to disclosure laws requiring them to report outside income and certain gifts, though food and other "personal hospitality" such as lodging at an individual's residence is generally exempted. The plaintiffs argued the map violated the North Carolina state constitution's provisions concerning free elections and freedom of assembly, among others.Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court's nine life-tenured justices have no binding ethics code of conduct. Numerous plaintiffs, including Democratic voters, sued after North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature passed its version of the congressional map in 2021. In most states, such redistricting is done by the party in power, which can lead to map manipulation for partisan gain. "We will continue to move forward with the redistricting process later this year," Moore added.Įlectoral districts are redrawn each decade to reflect population changes as measured by a national census, last taken in 2020. Timothy Moore, the speaker of North Carolina's House of Representatives who defended the Republican-drawn map, said that "fortunately the current Supreme Court of North Carolina has rectified bad precedent from the previous majority." In April, it overruled its 2022 decision, concluding that state courts do not have the power to rein in electoral map drawing by politicians to entrench one party in power. The state court's composition flipped in the November elections from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. A replacement map was in effect for the November 2022 elections. The North Carolina Supreme Court, whose judges are elected by the voters in the state, last year ruled that the Republican-drawn map unlawfully disadvantaged Democrats and that partisan gerrymandering violated the North Carolina state constitution. The issue is "sure to be back at the court in future years, when state courts reject legislatively drawn maps and take it upon themselves to draw districts," said Michael Dimino, a professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania. Roberts stopped short of announcing a legal test for determining when a state court has ventured too far, but that conclusion could still give politicians another chance to defend contested rules or maps. Constitution gives state legislatures to craft election rules. Roberts, while rejecting the legislators' main arguments, cautioned that "state courts do not have free rein" to undermine power that the U.S. But Republican legislators in North Carolina and across the country remain a very real threat to democracy as they continue to pass laws to manipulate elections for partisan gain by interfering with the freedom to vote." North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said, "This is a good decision that curbs some of the power of Republican state legislatures and the ruling affirms the importance of checks and balances. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2023.
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