Supreme Court set to weigh lines of South Carolina congressional district in racial gerrymandering dispute

Washington — The Supreme Court is set to consider Wednesday whether the lines of a congressional district in South Carolina are a racial gerrymander that violates the Constitution in a case that tests the intertwining of race and politics.

The justices will weigh a ruling from a three-judge district court panel in South Carolina that found state Republican lawmakers intentionally let race drive the design of Congressional District 1.

The dispute is the latest to come before the high court arising from the redistricting process that took place after the 2020 Census. But unlike a closely watched dispute involving Alabama's congressional map, which the high court found likely violated the Voting Rights Act, the court battle involving the single district in South Carolina centers around claims that race was improperly used during the map-drawing process, in violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause.