Federal judges rule North Carolina's electoral map unconstitutional

Demonstrators against gerrymandering.
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)

A panel of three federal judges on Tuesday ruled that North Carolina's congressional map is unconstitutionally gerrymandered, and said the state's General Assembly must redraw district lines before the 2018 midterm election.

This is the first time a federal court has ruled that a congressional map's boundaries violate the Constitution because they were drawn for partisan reasons — in this case, to benefit Republican candidates. North Carolina has until Jan. 24 to come up with a "remedial plan," but the court said if it found the new district lines to be partisan, the judges will make the new map.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.