Supreme Court sides with South Carolina GOP over racial gerrymander case

The Supreme Court upheld a Republican-drawn congressional district in South Carolina on Thursday, reversing a lower court that had declared its boundaries an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. 

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices signed off on a design that bolsters the GOP tilt of Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) district, aiding Republicans in holding onto the seat in their quest to regain control of the House. 

The high court’s majority rejected arguments that the design impermissibly shifted some 30,000 Black Charleston-area voters to a different district. 

A three-judge panel had found race was the predominant factor in the new design, ruling it a racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The decision sided with a Black voter and the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.   Justice Samuel Alito, one of the high court's leading conservatives, said the lower panel had paid "only lip service" to the Supreme Court's doctrines surrounding redistricting.

“That misguided approach infected the District Court’s findings of fact, which were clearly erroneous under the appropriate legal standard. We therefore reverse the trial court in part and remand for further proceedings,” he continued. 

Republican state lawmakers insisted the boundaries were changed because of politics, not race, and appealed the decision the Supreme Court.  

The lawmakers had previously asked the high court to rule by Jan. 1 to provide enough time before this year’s elections. 

After that deadline passed with the design still in limbo, the three-judge panel agreed to reinstate the map, meaning it would’ve gone into effect for 2024 even if the Supreme Court had ruled the other way. 

The Supreme Court’s decision now preserves the map beyond 2024, though it sends the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.