US Supreme Court scrutinizes South Carolina voting map deemed racially biased

The U.S. Supreme Court was set on Wednesday to hear a bid by South Carolina officials to revive a Republican-drawn electoral map faulted by a lower court for moving 30,000 Black residents out of a congressional district – a case that could help decide control of the House of Representatives in the 2024 elections.
At issue is a map adopted last year by the Republican-led state legislature delineating the boundaries of one of South Carolina’s seven U.S. House districts.
A panel of three federal judges blocked the map for South Carolina’s coastal 1st congressional district, which includes parts of Charleston. The panel in January ruled that the map diminished the clout of Black voters in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th and 15th Amendments, which guarantee equal protection under the law and prohibit race-based voting discrimination, the judges found.