[tsunamiSD]

Supreme Court finds the GOP packed black voters into two North Carolina districts to help win more House seats

The Supreme Court rebuked North Carolina’s Republican leaders Monday for shifting tens of thousands of black voters into two congressional districts that had steadily elected black Democrats, striking down the move as racial gerrymandering.

The main effect of Monday’s ruling will be in the South. Under the Voting Rights Act, Southern states were pressed in the 1990s to create voting districts that would elect African American candidates to Congress or the state legislature.

Monday’s decision won’t settle the broader national debate over gerrymandering. Many Democrats and political scientists say Republicans have used partisan line-drawing — which is allowed under the law — to maintain a grip on the House of Representatives. They point to states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, where Republicans have used party affiliation to give themselves control of most of the congressional seats.

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Gorsuch dissents as Supreme Court upholds ban on big-money gifts to parties

New Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joined Clarence Thomas in dissent Monday when the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a Republican Party lawyer seeking to strike down limits on big-money contributions to political parties.

The dissent by Gorsuch is his first and most significant decision since joining the court last month, and it puts him squarely on the side of conservatives and Republican lawyers who believe that limits on political money are unconstitutional.