Thread by @DemocracyDocket

TOMORROW: The newly Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court will rehear a case challenging a strict photo ID law that was previously struck down by the then-Democratic court last year for intentionally discriminating against Black voters.

Here's what you need to know.🧵

In 2018, North Carolina passed voter suppression law #SB824, which severely limited the list of acceptable photo IDs for voting. North Carolina voters filed a lawsuit, arguing that the law was passed with the intent to discriminate against Black voters.
democracydocket.com/cases/north-ca…

SB 824 has many of the same ID provisions as SB 589, another North Carolina law that was struck down by the 4th Circuit in 2016 for targeting Black voters "with almost surgical precision." democracydocket.com/cases/north-ca…

A trial court struck down #SB824, ruling that it WAS enacted with the intent to discriminate against Black voters in violation of the North Carolina Constitution. The court found that Black voters are 39% more likely to lack qualifying ID than white voters.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/no…

Republican lawmakers took the case to the North Carolina Supreme Court. In December 2022, the Democratic majority on the court agreed with the lower court and permanently blocked #SB824.
democracydocket.com/news-alerts/no…

Normally, this would be the end of the case. But after the November 2022 elections, the court flipped from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. Republican lawmakers took this opportunity to ask the state's highest court to rehear two cases they lost last year.

In an unprecedented move, the Republican justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court granted GOP lawmakers' requests to rehear both cases — despite there being no changes in any facts, laws or the state constitution.
democracydocket.com/news-alerts/no…

Rehearing is a rare phenomenon and is typically only granted in extenuating circumstances. Many legal experts and prominent North Carolinians have expressed serious concern over the court's decision to grant rehearing. democracydocket.com/analysis/north…

Earlier today, the North Carolina Supreme Court reheard Harper v. Hall, the state-level redistricting case underlying the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark case Moore v. Harper. Everything you need to know about Harper can be found here:democracydocket.com/analysis/north…

https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket/status/1635683414522118145

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15 at 12:45 pm ET, oral argument over the photo ID law will be held in the North Carolina Supreme Court. We'll be live tweeting the argument, so watch this space for updates and subscribe to stay up to date on this case: democracydocket.com/subscribe