Full name: Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, et al. v. Harris et al.
Stephen BreyerRuth Bader GinsburgElena KaganSonia SotomayorClarence ThomasSamuel AlitoAnthony KennedyJohn G. RobertsNeil Gorsuch Note: Court justices do not represent any political party. The color of each judge's name represents the political party of the president who appointed the judge.
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Voting Rights
North Carolina used race to determine districts
This court ruled that two North Carolina congressional districts were created using race as a criteria - a violation of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.
What happened in these districts?
North Carolina's 12th Congressional District was designed to snake along a freeway, following where black voters live in order to increase their power to elect a representative of their choosing.
After the 2010 census, state legislators modified the district's shape - adding 35,000 black voters and removing 50,000 white voters.
The state's 1st Congressional District also was predominantly represented by black voters. It needed to be increased by 100,000 voters after the 2010 census. State legislators took those people from predominately black areas.
In both districts, the ability of black voters to increase their representation would was already strong enough. But the redistricting diminishes their influence in other districts.