UPDATE: Court Fights Continue

NC Appeals Court panel allows redistricting maps.

In a not-unexpected ruling, a three-judge panel of the NC Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 11, 2022 that the 2021 legislative redistricting maps may stand. The unanimous ruling, handed down by a panel comprised of two Republican judges and one Democrat, is expected to be appealed to the NC Supreme Court, which has a slim 4-3 majority of Democratic justices.

In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court will let two Republican justices rule on the GOP legislation’s constitutionality.

Several parties recently asked the Court to force two Republican justices, Phil Berger, Jr. and Tamara Barringer, to recuse themselves from ruling on a variety of what progressives consider voter suppression laws. The full court rejected the request, noting that each justice is expected to determine whether or not recusal is appropriate, and that their decision is final.

Barringer is a former state senator who voted for the laws whose constitutionality is now at question; her ability to rule impartially, after supporting them in the legislature, was questioned, but she insists that she can judge whether the laws she voted on before are legal or not. Berger is the son of State Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger, Sr.; his impartiality was also under challenge, though he insists that personal bias only refers to a spouse or one’s personal business, but not to a parent or child.

The full Supreme Court ruled that they cannot be forced to recuse themselves.