Tuesday, May 23, 2017
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 decision that two North Carolina Congressional Districts are illegal racial gerrymanders. The ruling upholds one issued in 2016 by a lower court. Guest host Tom Bullock and experts will talk about what the ruling means, its potential for wide-ranging precedent, and how it will affect North Carolina voters.
Two North Carolina Congressional Districts are "illegal racial gerrymanders", according to a ruling on Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1st and 12th districts in North Carolina were the districts affected by the ruling- the 1st in eastern North Carolina and the 12th, which used to be Charlotte to Greensboro.
The ruling stated that Republicans who held the legislature and governor's office back in 2011 when the changes were made used race to draw the boundaries for the districts.
In 2016, the map was redrawn after a lower federal court ruled that the map was a racial gerrymander. The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholds that ruling.
Guest host Tom Bullock and a panel of experts go over the details of the case and the boundaries of those particular districts, and discuss the comments made by the justices. And we'll talk about the effect this will have on voters-- and politicians-- in those districts, on the next Charlotte Talks.
For more on this story, check out WFAE's coverage.
Guests:
Dr. Michael Bitzer, Provost and Professor of Political Science at Catawba College
Guy Charles, Professor of Law, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, and founding director of the Duke Law Center on Law, Race and Politics
Mitch Kokai, Senior political analyst, John Locke Foundation