Legislative District Battle Resumes With Democrat Appeal

Officials revived the battle over state legislative districts Thursday when attorneys from the N.C. Office of the Attorney General refined an appeal opposing districts imposed by a judge.

The districts used in the Sept. 10 primaries and Nov. 5 general election were imposed by N.C. Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins, who was given authority by the N.C. Supreme Court in June to redraw maps if the legislature failed to draft satisfactory districts.

The new court brief accuses Jenkins of improperly inserting his own judgement into the case when he removed a set of constitutional maps approved by the legislature, replacing them with his own.

"By intruding upon the General Assembly's legislative districting responsibility and authority, the trial court's actions violated the core constitutional principle of separation of powers," states the brief.

Jenkins redrew districts in a way that contributed to Democrats losing their slim majority in the N.C. House of Representatives. The November election left Republicans with a 61-59 advantage over Democrats. In the N.C. Senate, where Democrats remain the majority party, Republicans gained seven seats.

Jenkins' redrawn maps apply only to the 2002 election. Under the ruling, legislators will redraw the districts during the 2003 session.

But if the state wins its appeal, Jenkins' decision will be reversed and the legislative maps passed last year by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly will be put into effect until 2010.

Many Democratic legislators expressed concern that Jenkins overstepped his boundaries by circumventing the legislature to enact his own set of maps.

"It is unconstitutional to surpass the authority of the General Assembly in drawing (the maps)," said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, D-Robeson, co-chairman of the House Legislative Redistricting Committee.

Sutton emphasized that the Supreme Court erred by sending the maps to an individual judge to be redrawn.

"The manner in which a judge drew the maps is one, and the fact that one judge drew them is another," he said.

It was inevitable that the Democrat-drawn maps would be refused because of the Republican majority on the Supreme Court, Sutton said.

"(You have) six Republicans, one Democrat -- it's a Democrat-drawn plan," he said. "I think I've said enough."

But some legislators said they see the state's attempt to refine its appeal as a last-ditch attempt to win a hopeless case.

Rep. Joe Kiser, R-Lincoln and also a member of the redistricting committee, said he does not expect the state to be successful in its appeal. He said he thinks the state attorneys are making a last attempt to swing a case that has gone back and forth several times. "(This is) the final straw (Democrats) are trying to use to bring back the districts they drew."

Kiser said that because the suit was upheld by the state Supreme Court, it is hard to argue with its constitutionality.

But House Speaker Pro Tem Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said there is no doubt the legislature should be responsible for redrawing districts. "I certainly agree that the legislature, in redistricting, did what the courts told us to do," he said. "The judge should not interfere anymore."

The final appeal is not yet on the court's calendar, but oral arguments are tentatively scheduled for March.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.