In That Case: Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP

In the Public Interest

In the Public Interest is excited to continue its second annual miniseries examining notable decisions recently issued by the US Supreme Court. In this episode, co-host Felicia Ellsworth is joined by Deputy Director for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project and former WilmerHale Litigation Counsel Adriel Cepeda Derieux to discuss the recent decision in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. This decision concerns the constitutionality of South Carolina’s new congressional map and analyzes whether race was the predominant factor that motivated the state legislature’s decision to move voters within or without a particular district.

Ellsworth and Cepeda Derieux share background on the case and how South Carolina specifically demonstrated hallmarks of racial gerrymandering. They also discuss how the Supreme Court’s decision could make it difficult going forward to successfully prosecute cases of gerrymandering in regions with high rates of racial polarization. Cepeda Derieux also gives his thoughts on the current state of voting rights and what other developments we could expect to see on the topic of redistricting from the Supreme Court.