Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Dan Kemp and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge this week intervened on opposite sides of a North Carolina congressional-map case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
All 50 states represented in the bipartisan Conference of Chief Justices on Tuesday filed a brief saying the U.S. Constitution does not prevent state courts from reviewing congressional maps for violations of state constitutions, as North Carolina Republicans contend, Reuters reported. Republicans there are appealing a lower-court decision striking down a congressional-district map that the court found was intentionally biased against Democrats.
Meanwhile, Rutledge, who’s never shy about spending state money to meddle in other states’ cases, also on Tuesday joined top law enforcement officials from 12 other states to side, naturally, with the Republicans. You’ve got to hand it to her: There’s not a bipartisan bone in her body.
“The Court should hold that none of the conglomeration of state constitutional provisions relied on by the Supreme Court of North Carolina empowers it to legislate the manner of congressional elections, and it should reverse that court’s opinion
imposing a court-drawn map,” the politicians argued in a brief.
Who shall prevail? Considering the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court these days and politicians’ love for gerrymandering, I wouldn’t count on a good outcome. But we can hope Kemp and the other chief justices prevail on this one.
