N.C. Court Strikes Down Partisan Gerrymandering

Three North Carolina Superior Court judges unanimously ruled on Tuesday that extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the North Carolina Constitution and the rights of equal protection, speech, association and free elections it guarantees North Carolina citizens. This is the first successful partisan gerrymandering case in the nation following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision this June that such challenges could not be brought in federal court.

Robinson Bradshaw represented four former North Carolina governors as amici in the case. The governors' brief urged the court to end partisan gerrymandering to preserve separation of powers, good government and judicial independence. The legislature now has two weeks to draw new nonpartisan districts for state legislative elections to be used in 2020, using a process to be conducted in full view of the public.

Robinson Bradshaw attorneys John R. Wester, Adam K. Doerr, Erik R. Zimmerman, Kevin R. Crandall and Kristin L. Hendrickson represented the governors in the brief.

For more information on the case and the court's decision, please see a sampling of media coverage below:

• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Charlotte Observer