Thread by @mel_bough

We are starting now with opening statements. Stanton Jones is making the case for the plaintiffs in the NC partisan gerrymandering trial #ncga #ncpol

Jones says we will hear testimony from 35 plaintiffs in the case #ncga #ncpol

Jones: This case is about how NC legislative districts have been intentionally and systematically help Republicans win #ncga #ncpol

Stanton Jones for plaintiffs: It doesn't matter which party does it; it's wrong. ... Asking court to bring it to an end #ncga #ncpol

Jones: The story of how we got here is uncomplicated -- Hofeller drew maps to get Repubs in power ... Their plan worked #ncga #ncpol

Stanton Jones for plaintiffs: At the point the federal court struck down maps as racial gerrymanders, lawmakers should have taken on transparent process and drew fair maps #ncga #ncpol

Instead, Jones said, they worked in secret and double-downed on gerrymandering #ncga #ncpol

Jones: Republican legislators adopted election data criteria on straight party line vote; Dr. Hofeller delivered -- experts will show by a host of math and statistics that 2017 maps are an outlier #ncga #ncpol

Stanton Jones in opening for plaintiffs: Dr. Hofeller's files prove beyond a reasonable doubt that partisan advantage was his singular objective #ncga #ncpol

Jones: Even the 2018 wave couldn't overcome the stronger seawall that legislative defendants put in place ... because of gerrymandering, Dems cannot win a majority in #ncga #ncpol

Stanton Jones for plaintiffs: These plans are impervious to the will of the voters ... Those voters will never get any meaningful say on the kitchen table issues that matter to them #ncga #ncpol

Jones: These plans were gerrymandered very specifically to prevent Dems from winning either chamber #ncga #ncpol

Jones: These plans were gerrymandered very specifically to prevent Dems from winning either chamber. ... Only the courts can end this cycle and ensure free and fair elections in 2020 #ncga #ncpol

Stanton Jones for plaintiffs: State courts do not need to stand idly by as people’s constitutional rights are being violated just because the #SCOTUS refuses to act #ncga #ncpol

Jones: They will claim that partisan is old and therefore it is OK but a historical pedigree is no reason to perpetuate discrimination against voters #ncga #ncpol

Jones finishes opening statement for plaintiffs. Phil Strach up now opening for the legislative defendants #ncga #ncpol

Strach: Let me be clear, this lawsuit is not about protecting democracy. It is a full frontal assault on democracy. #ncga #ncpol

Strach: plaintiffs are asking this court to create a new redistricting process ... that's undemocratic #ncga #ncpol

Strach says the plaintiffs problem isn't really with the 2017 map, it's with the process and this case is being used as the vehicle to change redistricting #ncga #ncpol

Strach handed up a 2001 Senate map and then an expertly drawn separate map from the same time -- he is making points about the rules for whole county provisions #ncga #ncpol

Strach says the argument that Democrats could not win a majority is not the case -- they have more registered voters and their own support score data shows they could win supermajorities under the 2017 plans #ncga #ncpol

Strach: What they really want is the court's help electing Democrats rather than finding candidates that could turn their own support scores into a reality #ncga #ncpol

Strach: If the constitution draws most of the map and the Dems can win majorities under the map, what's the problem? They won't answer that question #ncga #ncpol

Strach says the plaintiffs want proportional representation when it benefits them but not when it doesn't #ncga #ncpol

Phil Strach for legislative defendants: There is no way to know what a fair map looks like #ncga #ncpol

Strach: I can’t think of a more dangerous threat to democracy than the political judgement the plaintiffs are asking the court to make #ncga #ncpol

Strach: Does this court want to be the new partisan redistricting court? #ncga #ncpol

Strach: [Plaintiffs case is] noting more than an invitation to follow the flute of a pied piper into the thicket of thorns. ... The court should resist the flute, avoid the thicket #ncga #ncpol

Phil Strach has concluded opening for legislative defendants. Now John Branch is opening for the intervenors in the case (Repub voters in Dem areas) #ncga #ncpol

Branch is going over what his intervenor clients will testify to this week. It crystallizes a fundamental prob with plaintiffs argument, he says, that they want the court to pick sides in political argument #ncga #ncpol

Branch says drawing the maps is constitutionally a legislative right and political issue #ncga #ncpol

John Branch for intervenors: At the end of the day the constitution is clear as to who does the redistricting and what the constraints are #ncga #ncpol

Branch said plaintiffs want to remove the redistricting process from legislators #ncga #ncpol

John Branch for intervenors has concluded his argument and the state did not make an opening statement #ncga #ncpol

We are now on to first witness for plaintiffs: Bob Phillips, Exec Director of @CommonCauseNC #ncga #ncpol

Bob Phillips going over his background and his duties at @CommonCauseNC #ncga #ncpol

It's worth noting from opening statements that Strach and Branch are making similar arguments to Clement from the #SCOTUS case: Partisan gerrymandering is a political issue and if courts weigh in, it will be a slippery slope #ncga #ncpol

Bob Phillips on what @CommonCauseNC lobbies for: We think that the process should be open; we think that it should not be behind closed doors. We think the public should have robust input in this process. Also, politics should be taken out of process #ncga #ncpol

Phillips discussing bill from 2001 Horton Commission that has language removing politics from redistricting process -- Berger was a sponsor #ncga #ncpol

Bob Phillips of @CommonCauseNC -- To us the centerpiece of what the harm is really connects back to is this use of political data. He believes partisan gerrymandering discourages citizen participation and makes it difficult to hold elected officials accountable #ncga #ncpol

Phillips says he's been at this for 20 years and there just hasn't been any opportunities for #ncga to pass meaningful redistricting reform #ncpol

Phillips says he was surprised when #ncga handed out @CommonCauseNC maps at a public redistricting hearing and when he later learned they were politically analyzed #ncpol

Phillips said @CommonCauseNC created their maps on the state computer at the #ncga -- wanted students working with them to get real feel for process #ncpol

Phillips says he learned their maps were analyzed and graded for which districts best for Republicans -- Strach objects for hearsay b/c Thomas Hofeller is dead and who allegedly reviewed those maps #ncga #ncpol

Three judge panel is conferring now about the hearsay objection -- they sustained it but said could rephrase the question #ncga #ncpol

Phillips learned from counsel that Hofeller analyzed @CommonCauseNC maps and he read the analysis #ncga #ncpol

Strach moved to strike Phillip's testimony on Hofeller's analysis of @CommonCauseNC maps, and it was overruled #ncga #ncpol

We're now starting with cross examination -- Phil Strach for legislative defendants is cross examining Bob Phillips, Exec Director of @CommonCauseNC #ncga #ncpol

Strach reiterates that Phillips has not yet been able to accomplish his anti-partisan gerrymandering agenda through the #ncga yet #ncpol

Phillips: We do challenge the districts and we do challenge the maps, but @CommonCauseNC did not make sole decision on which districts to challenge #ncga #ncpol

Strach has put up Q&A from Phillips' deposition and they are reading from it #ncga #ncpol

Phillips says under cross that he believes NC's bad redistricting process creates unfair maps and thinks any map drawn here is unfair and unconstitutional #ncga #ncpol

Phillips says students who made @CommonCauseNC maps did not have intent to gerrymander, so even though some of theirs is identical to Hofeller's, they wanted to show what political indifferent process looks like #ncga #ncpol

Strach asks Philiips if it's true that they filed lawsuit to force #ncga to pass redistricting reform. Phillips says they filed lawsuit to create a better process than what we have #ncga #ncpol

Strach now handing out @CommonCauseNC press release from Nov. 2018 -- it says they were forced to litigate because lawmakers stubbornly refuse to consider passing redistricting reform #ncga #ncpol

Strach asks Phillips if it's true that @CommonCauseNC doesn't have a partisan gerrymandering standard. He says it is true, but it's about the process.

Bob Phillips says students drawing @CommonCauseNC maps looked at race data more on the back end to comply with VRA but did not otherwise use it for redistricting purposes #ncga #ncpol

We're taking a 15-minute recess, then we will come back and continue cross examination until about 1, when we will break for lunch #ncga #ncpol

And we're back in court! Cross examination by Phil Strach for the legislative defendants of Bob Phillips of @CommonCauseNC is continuing #ncga #ncpol

Cross examination is over and we are on to redirect -- Eddy Speas is now questioning Bob Phillips #ncga #ncpol

That's *Eddie Speas, not Eddy -- rushed fingers. Speas and Strach are discussing with the court how they want to go about objections #ncga #ncpol

And now we're onto the plaintiffs' next witness, @DanBlueNC #ncga #ncpol

@DanBlueNC is the Senate minority leader. He's been at the #ncga for four decades. He's followed and participated in redistricting this decade #ncga #ncpol

.@DanBlueNC testifying about Hofeller being retained by GOP to draw maps in 2011, 2016 and 2017. Says he's been described as the Michelangelo of redistricting #ncga #ncpol

Kate McKnight for legislative defendants objects to @DanBlueNC testifying about 2016 congressional map (relevancy) and comments by @RepDavidRLewis (hearsay) -- they are sustained #ncga #ncpol

Speas now questioning @DanBlueNC about the 2017 redistricting process; committees were about 2/3 Republican #ncga #ncpol

Speas and @DanBlueNC are going over testimony from public redistricting hearings to establish timeline of Hofeller's involvement in 2017 #ncga #ncpol

We are recessing for lunch and will return at 2:30 p.m. #ncag #ncpol

And we're back. It's possible we could go a little beyond 5 p.m. but for the most part, that's when we will stop #ncga #ncpol

Eddie Speas for the plaintiffs is still questioning @DanBlueNC -- he has not yet been cross examined #ncga #ncpol

.@DanBlueNC says they were trying hard to break the supermajority last year, but couldn't get past the second hurdle to break the majority #ncga #ncpol

Kate McKnight for the legislative defendants will now cross-examine @DanBlueNC #ncga #ncpol

McKnight asks @DanBlueNC about Democrats hiring @KareemCrayton to help with the 2017 redistricting process -- he looked at some areas, but not the overall map #ncga #ncpol

McKnight and @DanBlueNC are discussing redistricting criteria #ncga #ncpol

I think we're officially in the weeds as counsel discusses a "chokepoint" in a Wake County district #ncga #ncpol

John Branch for the intervenors just concluded a very short cross examination of @DanBlueNC -- now we're on a quick redirect from Eddie Speas for plaintiffs #ncga #ncpol

We're just getting back from recess, but noting here that the attorney for NCDOJ, Matthew Tulchin, did not make an opening statement and has not participated in interviewing witnesses #ncga #ncpol

We're on to the next witness. @GraigMeyer is being questioned now by Eddie Speas #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer says he was the recruitment chair for the 2018 elections and they thought they could break the supermajority but "running under gerrymandered maps is difficult" #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer -- "It's no fun to be in the minority at the legislature." #ncga #ncpol

Mark Brayden is now cross examining @GraigMeyer #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer says he understands that Dems controlled redistricting since the end of Reconstruction and that the process is similar now in that both parties used partisan gerrymandering to their advantage #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer -- "I am opposed to the process as used by either party" #ncga #ncpol

Brayden asking @GraigMeyer about African American candidates he recruited who lost in some of the districts in last year's election then asking if he knew the Black Voting Age Populations in those areas #ncga #ncpol

John Branch is now cross examining @GraigMeyer for the intervenors #ncga #ncpol

Branch is about to show the Democratic support scores which were previously sealed and marked as highly confidential #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer is explaining why the support scores are not an accurate depiction of whether a Dem candidate can win a district #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer says redistricting laws are important because "when the maps are not fair, the people are not fairly represented" #ncga #ncpol

.@GraigMeyer is done testifying and now we are on to another witness, Derrick Miller, a plaintiff in the case. John Robinson is interviewing him for the plaintiffs on the stand. #ncga #ncpol

Miller is from Wilmington. He's a registered Democrat who frequently volunteers in Democratic campaigns #ncga #ncpol

Brodie Erwin for the legislative defendants is now cross examining Miller #ncga #ncpol

Plaintiff Derrick Miller made a joke (and the courtroom laughed) that "we all know the climate's changing" and then thunder clapped and it started raining outside #ncga #ncpol

Miller: "If Republicans could win a majority on an even playing field, it would burn a lot less, and I think we all deserve that fairness" #ncga #ncpol

Derrick Miller is finished testifying and we are about done for the day #ncga #ncpol

The plaintiffs' experts will begin testifying tomorrow. Court begins at 9 am, and I will be back here tweeting it all #ncga #ncpol