U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Oral Argument Over South Carolina’s Congressional Map  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning, at 10 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a South Carolina redistricting lawsuit — Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP — after the state’s Republican legislators appealed a three-judge panel’s decision to strike down the 1st Congressional District. The federal judges held that South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District was a racial gerrymander and struck down the map, pointing out that the creation of this district would have been “effectively impossible without the gerrymandering of the African American population of Charleston County.” 

Oral argument begins at 10 a.m. EDT. Listen to the oral argument here and, as you listen, follow along on Twitter and Threads as we provide live updates during the argument. For a full breakdown of the case, read our Case Watch.

In October 2021, after lawmakers kept delaying the 2020 redistricting process and had not yet enacted a new reapportioned map, plaintiffs challenged the state’s 2010 congressional map as being malapportioned. After the Legislature enacted a new map with 2020 census data, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint challenging the map for being a racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.

On Jan. 6, 2023, a federal three-judge panel held that South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District was a racial gerrymander and struck down the map.

Republicans, however, appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which took the case in full and scheduled oral argument for Oct. 11.