State Constitutions as a Defense Against Election Subversion

In a recent landmark decision, the North Carolina Supreme Court limited the power of an unconstitutionally gerrymandered legislature to initiate amendments to the state constitution. The case is a big deal for the law of democracy. The remedy for an unconstitutional gerrymander typically has been a forward-looking order requiring new district lines—a remedy that places no limit on the mischief the legislature may impose in the meantime. Here, instead, the court recognized that an improperly constituted legislature should not be able to entrench its own power, insulate itself from political accountability, or discriminate against groups excluded from the democratic process. In charting this new course, the opinion illustrates the power of “This article has been indexed from Lawfare