The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that two North Carolina Congressional districts are illegal because race factored too heavily in their drawing. The 5-3 ruling is the latest in a string of defeats for the Republican-controlled General Assembly. It comes just weeks after the court declined to hear an appeal of the state's invalidated voter ID law. The Reverend William Barber II is head of the state NAACP, which helped bring the lawsuit against the districts. He spoke with BPR's Jeremy Loeb about the ruling.
A spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said in a statement:
"We have the utmost respect for the Supreme Court, but it is challenging for our lawmakers to draw congressional districts that the courts will accept when the courts regularly change the rules state legislatures must follow when drawing them."
