New Congressional Maps in Direct Violation of the U.S. Constitution

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General

AUSTIN (News Release) – Attorney General Paxton has joined a multistate amicus brief led by Arkansas and Arizona in the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the North Carolina Supreme Court from blatant judicial activism that directly conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

The two cases, Timothy K. Moore, et al. v. Rebecca Harper, et al. and Timothy K. Moore, et al. v. North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, Inc., et al., were consolidated in the North Carolina Superior Court and hinge on the North Carolina Supreme Court’s attempts to misconstrue ambiguity in their state constitution to usurp legislative power, specifically the ability to draw congressional maps. In this case, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the North Carolina General Assembly’s maps, citing vague and open-ended state constitutional commands such as “[a]ll elections shall be free.”

The North Carolina Supreme Court’s actions and interpretation of the state constitution directly contradict the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause, which specifically confers upon state legislatures the power to draw federal congressional maps.

“If a redistricting process more starkly contrary to the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause exists, it is hard to imagine it. . . . [T]he Constitution carefully sets forth a detailed set of specific rights, specific procedures, and specific allocations of power. Here, those carefully drawn lines place the regulation of federal elections in the hands of state legislatures, Congress, and no one else,” the brief notes.

To read the full brief, click here.