By Cash Michaels –
Goes to Trial in December—After Elections
After having motions for preliminary injunctions rejected by both a federal district court judge and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a lawsuit brought by two African American plaintiffs challenging two state Senate districts redrawn by the Republican-led NC General Assembly may go to trial at the earliest this December 2, 2024.
But Republican legislative leaders say that date is too soon.
The move is significant because the trial will take place after the November general elections, meaning that the two contested Senate voting districts in northeastern NC will be used during balloting, which is what the two Black plaintiffs attempted to stop in the first place.
The second note of concern is that the redistricting plan will be going back before the federal district court judge who initially dismissed plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on January 26, 2024. That judge, James C. Dever, dismissed the motion, saying that it was too close to the March 5th primary for it to be considered without causing disruption.
But Judge Dever also was not impressed with plaintiffs’ argument that the two state Senate Districts, as redrawn by the legislature last October, denied African American voters their choice of candidates because the districts were drawn in violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and split the Black voting population.
That argument also failed to convince a federal three-judge panel of the federal appellate court to grant the petitioned injunction. Having failed to stop the Senate redistricting maps, plaintiffs then decided to move forward with a full trial in federal court.
Republican legislative leaders stated in court papers for the defense that they preferred for the trial to be held no earlier than Feb. 3, 2025. They made…
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