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.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.