On December 7, 2022, the United States Supreme Court heard argument in Moore v. Harper, a consolidation of three cases stemming from North Carolina’s redistricting process.
We are proud to have successfully represented the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) and 15 North Carolina citizens in securing a ruling from the North Carolina Supreme Court that the state constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering. As a result of that ruling, North Carolina voters in the 2022 congressional elections voted in fair districts rather than egregiously gerrymandered ones.
But in Moore v. Harper, North Carolina legislative leaders took the case to the US Supreme Court, arguing that they are not bound by their state constitution when making the rules for congressional elections.
Partners Jessica Ring Amunson and Sam Hirsch led the case for the NCLCV et al., and in their joint Supreme Court brief with co-respondents Common Cause and Rebecca Harper, et al., laid bare the flaws in the legislators’ approach:
It is rare to encounter a constitutional theory so antithetical to the Constitution’s text and structure, so inconsistent with the Constitution’s original meaning, so disdainful of this Court’s precedent, and so potentially damaging for American democracy.
Moore v. Harper, Supreme Court Brief No. 21-1271
Jessie’s remarks on the case at a post-argument press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court can be heard here and the court’s ruling is expected by June 2023.
Jessie and Sam were assisted in the US Supreme Court case by Partner David Bradford, former Partner Zach Schauf, and Associates Karthik P. Reddy, Leonard R. Powell, Urja Mittal, Illyana A. Green, Carter F. Smith, Sophia L. Cai, and Benjamin T. Hand.
Members of the team who helped litigate the case in the North Carolina courts included Partners Kali Bracey, Benjamin J. Bradford, Alex S. Trepp, and David M. Greenwald and Associate Mary E. Marshall. Senior paralegal Cheryl Olson and paralegals Thomas Scholtus Adam Weidman also assisted. Others in the firm provided important assistance, including Partners Robert R. Stauffer, David Jimenez-Ekman, and David P. Sanders; Associates Brandon J. Polcik, Huiyi Chen, and Allison M. Tjemsland; Department Counsel Adam M. Caldwell; senior paralegals Daniel Garcia and Theresa Busch; and paralegals Grace Liberman, Sam Rosen, and Kendall Allen.
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