- Term
- 2023-2024
Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of NAACP
Voting rights were once again under siege in this case, as the Supreme Court considered whether South Carolina can “pack and crack” Black voters — gerrymandering practices used to dilute their strength at the ballot box. In the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause, the Court already ruled that people could no longer challenge partisan gerrymanders in federal court — but people whose constitutional and voting rights were infringed upon by racial gerrymanders could still bring cases. In Alexander, South Carolina argued that racial gerrymandering is functionally equivalent to partisan gerrymandering and thus should be allowed.
On May 24, 2024, in a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed majority agreed with South Carolina’s Republican legislators who argued that their gerrymandering was merely partisan, rather than racial — effectively saying racial gerrymandering is acceptable leading into the 2024 election.
