On May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Carolina’s newly redrawn congressional map, overturning a previous decision by a lower court.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) contested the map, claiming that lawmakers were racially motivated when redrawing district boundaries and engaged in “intentional racial discrimination.”
In 2023, a panel of federal judges determined that “race predominated over all other factors” when lawmakers redrew South Carolina’s First Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). This conclusion was partially based on the relocation of over 30,000 Black voters to a different district.
According to court precedent, plaintiffs challenging a new district map must demonstrate that legislators prioritized race over other factors, such as contiguity, to prove that race was the predominant factor in redrawing the districts.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, stated that the judges who issued the earlier ruling “clearly erred” because the challengers failed to provide sufficient proof that race was the predominant factor in redrawing the districts.
He wrote that the challengers “provided no direct evidence of racial gerrymandering, and their circumstantial evidence is very weak.” He further noted that “the challengers relied