Supreme Court Backs GOP’s South Carolina Congressional Map

  • Court votes 6-3 along ideological lines in redistricting case
  • Ruling will boost Republicans in battle to control US House

The US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. 

Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The US Supreme Court upheld a Republican-drawn congressional map in South Carolina, rejecting claims of racial gerrymandering and boosting the GOP in the fight to control the House for the rest of the decade.

Voting 6-3 along ideological lines, the justices overturned a lower court’s finding that lawmakers unconstitutionally relied on race when they drew what is now a Republican-held district. The high court majority said the challengers hadn’t shown that race was the driving factor, rather than permissible partisan considerations.