North Carolina Congressional Map Ruled Unconstitutionally Gerrymandered (nytimes.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: A panel of federal judges struck down North Carolina's congressional map on Tuesday, condemning it as unconstitutional because Republicans had drawn the map seeking a political advantage (Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source). The ruling was the first time that a federal court had blocked a congressional map because of a partisan gerrymander, and it instantly endangered Republican seats in the coming elections. Judge James A. Wynn Jr., in a biting 191-page opinion, said that Republicans in North Carolina's Legislature had been "motivated by invidious partisan intent" as they carried out their obligation in 2016 to divide the state into 13 congressional districts, 10 of which are held by Republicans. The result, Judge Wynn wrote, violated the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. The ruling and its chief demand -- that the Republican-dominated Legislature create a new landscape of congressional districts by Jan. 24 -- infused new turmoil into the political chaos that has in recent years enveloped North Carolina. President Trump carried North Carolina in 2016, but the state elected a Democrat as its governor on the same day and in 2008 supported President Barack Obama.

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[jwhyche]

And this doesn't.

But it's okay to gerrymander for Democrats?

[mschuyler]

Take a look at a legislative district in say, Georgia. Notice how the districts look kind of like snakes crawling across the landscape. That's because they include precincts that represent predominantly Black neighborhoods and avoid predominantly white neighborhoods. The theory is that this gives Blacks a more "fair" representation by ensuring Black voters get to choose "their" candidate, more often than not a fellow Black. The fact that they are more likely to be a Democrat, well, that's just an "accident."