State NAACP wants new Congress map rejected, too
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The North Carolina NAACP says a new congressional map should be rejected by federal judges that found some earlier boundaries unconstitutional. Group leaders also believe the legislature shouldn't get another chance to redraw them.
State NAACP legal counsel Irving Joyner said Monday at a Durham news conference it would formally ask the three-judge panel to draw its own legal plan. The civil rights group isn't a plaintiff in the lawsuit but sued previously in state court over boundaries approved in 2011.
The Republican-led legislature passed a new congressional map last Friday after the judges ordered them to do so because they ruled two previous districts were illegal racial gerrymanders. The federal court panel will decide if the new maps are constitutional.
The NAACP hopes they do not pass, arguing they were drawn using political data as a proxy for race.
"We are in the middle of a serious review and have serious reservations about these maps as well," said Reverend William Barber. "It should be deeply concerning to every North Carolinian that we've had two elections already in this state that have used districts that are unconstitutional."
Supporters of the new maps argue that they are fair and legal but, like the NAACP, hope for a quick resolution in court.
