Supreme Court Declines North Dakota Redistricting Appeal

A federal district court rejected two Republicans’ challenge to a redistricting plan in November 2023.

(L–R) Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Elena Kagan, and Brett M. Kavanaugh in Washington on Sept. 30, 2022. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Jan. 13 against hearing an appeal in a racial gerrymandering case where North Dakota took the unusual step of asking the justices to reconsider its own lower court victory.

A gerrymander is the political manipulation of the boundaries of an electoral district to favor a political party or group. Race-based gerrymanders have been struck down by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds.