Thread by @srl

Breaking news: A 3-judge panel struck down North Carolina's state legislative districts as unlawful partisan gerrymanders. The court said the maps violated the state constitution and gave lawmakers until 9/18/2019 to draw new maps big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2…

This is an incredibly significant ruling. After SCOTUS said federal courts could do nothing to rein in excessive partisan gerrymandering, this is a state court coming forward to take action. Many activists and scholars believe this is a path forward to rein in gerrymandering

North Carolina court won't move state's March 2020 primaries for now, but is retaining authority to do so if it is necessary

Court blocks North Carolina lawmakers from considering political data when they redraw districts

"We look forward to taking back control of the General Assembly using fair maps next November," North Carolina Democratic Party says in a statement

3-judge panel suggests North Carolina Republicans misled federal court about timeline for drawing state legislative districts in 2017. The court says mapmaker was basically done in June -- lawmakers didn't pass criteria until August.

"Voters are not freely choosing their representatives. Rather,
representatives are choosing their voters. It is not the will of the people that is fairly
ascertained through extreme partisan gerrymandering. Rather, it is the will of the map
drawers that prevails," the court says

.@RStantonJonesDC also noted on press call: Court ordered NC lawmakers to do all remedial redistricting in public.

@RStantonJonesDC "At a minimum, this requires all map drawing to occur at public
hearings, with any relevant computer screen visible to legislators and public
observers."