Fed Court orders special election of entire NC legislature in 2017 due to gerrymandering

[Jersey Devil]

A federal court on Tuesday ordered North Carolina to hold a special legislative election next year after 28 state House and Senate districts are redrawn to comply with a gerrymandering ruling.

U.S. District Court judges earlier this year threw out the current legislative district map, ruling that 28 of them were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. They allowed the 2016 election to continue under the old maps, but ordered legislators to draw new districts in 2017.

Tuesday’s order settled the question of whether the new districts would take effect for the regularly scheduled 2018 election cycle, or if a special election would be required.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article117843388.html#storylink=cpy

This is where our comeback begins. This year we won the governor's office (not official yet). Next year we have a chance to at least seriously dent the super-majority of the Republicans in the state legislature. I am definitely going to get involved in the election in my first year as a North Carolinian. Gotta bring a little bit of Jersey to my new home.

[msongs]

1. make sure to have a dem candidate in EVERY race at every level nt

[Jersey Devil]

2. absolutely a must

As a new voter in NC this year I was shocked to see the ballot in which there were several offices with Republicans up for election and no Democratic opposition. Though I live in a Republican county I am going to get active with the Dems and speak out, if necessary, about the importance of filling every slot.

[blm]

3. DU nation can target this for our 2017 stand. Just like GOP did in 2009 targeting

Kennedy's seat and bulldozing their way thru Mass to put Scott Brown in the senate. The media went crazy with the narrative of Dems being repudiated so soon after a big win.

We can take the majority in NC with fairly drawn districts.

Game on?

[wildeyed]

5. Works for me.

Let's take Dan Bishop down He deserves more it than most after what he did to his own city with the HB2 nonsense.

[blm]

6. target drawn ... and Berger ... and Brawley.

.

[wildeyed]

7. Stop, you are making me drool....

How many seats do we need to bust the super majority? It was four, but I think we got two this year?

[blm]

8. It's a whole new ballgame now.

We can take the majority if we focus intently. A lot of Republicans are still mad at Brawley and Berger for the toll lanes.

[Jersey Devil]

12. We can use the bathroom law against the super-majority

I moved to NC in June and noticed right away that NC residents were super pissed off about losing all the college sports tournaments due to the bathroom law. Dems in NC should propose repeal and if the Repubs refuse, use it against them like a hammer. It worked to get rid of McCrory and if it gets their sports back I bet it would work for the legislature

[wildeyed]

16. How do "normal" people feel about McCrory dragging out

his election? People in my feeds are super-pissed, but they hated him to start. If average voters are annoyed, then we might be able to use that too.

[Aimee in OKC]

11. First have President Obama place Garland at SCOTUS...

His recess appointment would last only a year but would be immensely useful.

From the linked article, about the appeal:

Republican legislators who oversee redistricting blasted the decision in a news release Tuesday evening.

“This politically-motivated decision, which would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots, is a gross overreach that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms,” Rep. David Lewis and Sen. Bob Rucho said in the release, adding that they have already appealed the original U.S. District Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court hears the case and overturns the ruling, the special election would be canceled and current districts restored for the 2018 election.

[Akbar]

13. And a Trump Court...

...who will absolutely take this case on, will take this chance to rule that the right to republ gerrymandering trumps the right of minorities to have their votes counted.

[Grey Lemercier]

21. the Senate will not recess, so no chance

[Aimee in OKC]

22. January 3, 2017 ... per Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution

According to this author (David Dayen). I don't know anything about him, but he did bring out what might be a point concerning a recess on January 3.
* * * * * * *

"Obama can appoint his nominee Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on that date, in between the two sessions of Congress."

"Why January 3? Because the president’s recess appointment powers were significantly constrained by a 2014 Supreme Court ruling. In a 9-0 decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, the Court said the president cannot appoint individuals to fill vacancies if the Senate holds “pro forma” sessions every three days. Though these sessions, common since 2011, merely gavel in and gavel out the Senate chamber, they have the practical effect of keeping the Senate active, therefore blocking the recess appointment power.

But even the Court’s most conservative members acknowledged that a president can make recess appointments during “inter-session” recesses—such as the break between the first and second year of a Congress, or the break between outgoing or incoming Congresses. There simply has to be an end point there, as a metaphysical matter. Theodore Roosevelt once used a short inter-session recess to make hundreds of appointments."

https://newrepublic.com/article/138787/obama-can-put-merrick-garland-supreme-court

[Dawson Leery]

4. kick

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Thanks for helping share the good news.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141627301

[Sunny05]

10. K&R

Best thing I've read all day.

[lonestarnot]

14. Most truly very excellent! Hit it people! Hard!

[progressoid]

15. Whoa!

Some good news for a change.

[bigmonkey]

17. What prevents them from just not complying?

That's one possibility for the new normal.

[Jersey Devil]

18. I'm sure they will try not to comply

since the same legislature that gave use the gerrymandered districts will be drawing the new ones, but they will, at a minimum, have to do it in a way that is not completely outrageous, which will lead to an advantage for us.

[bigmonkey]

20. Are you sure?

Can they pack the court instead, to avoid the problem (from their POV)? Can they literally refuse to do it, like Karl Rove literally refused, with no consequences I'm aware of, to comply with a legally-issued subpoena?

[Iggo]

19. I hate fighting to get back what we never should have lost.

We should be moving forward, but we're fighting to get back to zero.

Comeback! Yay!