Opponents of the legislative and congressional districts drawn in 2011 by the General Assembly argued in court today that those boundaries should be thrown out.
The effort to scrap the new legislative and congressional boundaries landed in the state Supreme Court today. Attorneys for groups from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice to the state NAACP told justices the boundaries for the newly drawn maps are unconstitutional. They want the court to postpone the candidate filing period for this year's elections as well as the May sixth primary date.
Last summer, a panel of trial judges upheld the maps, but attorneys for the plaintiffs vowed to press forward. They say the maps squeeze too many minority voters into a small number of districts, diluting those voters' influence statewide. And they say the maps divide some counties unfairly.
The justices were quiet as attorneys on both sides made their case. Only two of the seven asked questions. It's not clear when they will issue a ruling.