It's been a banner year for learning about the judiciary!

I'll say one thing about our Republican friends in the General Assembly: thanks to all the ridiculous laws they've passed, this has really been a banner year for me in terms of learning about the judicial system.

We learned yesterday that the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against two of  NC's 13 Congressional districts and ordered them redrawn.

WRAL's coverage: http://www.wral.com/federal-court-strikes-down-nc-congressional-district-maps/15325900/#gDgCPIDwEGzyVP8V.99

The News and Observer: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article58756583.html



What's next? Lawyers for the state will probably draft a motion to stay the ruling for this election. Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog has an informative article with several links to interesting source material:

http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79650&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electionlawblog%2FuqCP+%28Election+Law%29

Once the motion is drafted, it goes to US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the "Circuit Justice" assigned to hear applications in the 4th District. This helpful "Reporter's Guide to Applications..."(http://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/reportersguide.pdf) details what happens next.

"Applications are addressed to a specific Justice, according to federal judicial circuit.  The United States is divided into 13 federal circuits, with each Justice assigned to a specific circuit or circuits (see page 19).

"Case law has established four general criteria that the  applicant normally must satisfy in order for the Court to grant a stay.  They are:

"1. that there is a “reasonable probability” that four
Justices will grant certiorari, or agree to review
the merits of the case;
2. that there is a “fair prospect” that a majority of
the Court will conclude upon review that the
decision below on the merits was erroneous;
3. that irreparable harm will result from the denial
of the stay;
4. finally, in a close case, the Circuit Justice may
find it appropriate to balance the equities, by"

Justices may act on applications alone or refer them to the full court. With an issue as important as redistricting, it's a safe bet the application will be referred to the full court, and for the following reason: when granting or denying a stay, the votes of the individual justices - who voted for what - are not a matter of public record, only the final decision of the court as a whole.  

Whatever happens in the Supreme Court, this Daily Kos article from Stephen Wolf says don't get your hopes up, the Republicans can redraw the districts and still maintain a 10-3 margin:

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/5/1480735/-North-Carolina-s-congressional-map-gets-struck-down-in-court-but-Democrats-shouldn-t-get-hopes-up

If all this talk of drawing up districts has you curious about the process, you can try it yourself:

http://gardow.com/davebradlee/redistricting/davesredistricting2.0.aspx

*****

Latest information:

A stay was filed with the 4th Circuit Us Appeals Court. It was rejected.

http://www.wral.com/news/page/12706857/?break_id=13885 

Transcript of the plaintiffs rebuttal:

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/REdistricting-challengers-response.pdf

Off to the Supreme Court:

http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79762