"Gerrymandering Battle: Supreme Court Faces High Stakes Showdown"

The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to racially gerrymandered congressional maps in South Carolina, which could have significant implications for voting rights. The lower court found that the state's Republican legislature excluded Black voters from the First Congressional District to maintain Republican control. This case comes after the Court's surprising decision last year to strike down an Alabama gerrymander, indicating a potential shift in its stance on voting rights. The legal issue in this case is whether the Court will follow existing law and affirm the lower court's decision to strike down the gerrymandered maps. South Carolina argues that the maps were drawn for partisan, not racial, reasons, but this admission could be seen as a violation of the First Amendment. While the Court is unlikely to rule against partisan gerrymandering, there is still a chance that South Carolina could lose based on existing law and factual determinations.