On March 2, parties to the Moore v. Harper case were directed by the U.S. Supreme Court to file supplemental letter briefs addressing the following question:
What is the effect on this Court’s jurisdiction under 28 U. S. C. §1257(a) and Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U. S. 469 (1975), of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s February 3, 2023 order granting rehearing, and any subsequent state court proceedings? The briefs are due Monday, March 20, 2023.
This request is in response to a February 3, decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court – with a newly elected Republican majority – to grant state legislators’ petition to rehear the case. Essentially the North Carolina Supreme Court is revisiting its decision to invalidate the state legislature’s maps in 2022 while that decision is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. The rehearing in the State Supreme Court is scheduled for Mar. 14, 2023.
Moore v. Harper has been described by many stakeholders as a landmark case that could determine the fate of the “independent state legislature theory” which posits that state legislatures have exclusive authority to set federal election rules, including drawing congressional maps, free from interference from state courts and governors.
Watch the Supreme Court Oral argument in Moore v. Harper from last December.
