Southeast
Supreme Court upholds GOP-drawn voting map in South Carolina gerrymandering case
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to reverse a lower court’s decision that said a South Carolina redistricting map was unconstitutional, rejecting the idea that it was racially discriminatory.
In a 6-3 decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, the high court said that “a party challenging a map’s constitutionality must disentangle race and politics if it wishes to prove that the legislature was motivated by race as opposed to partisanship. Second, in assessing a legislature’s work, we start with a presumption that the legislature acted in good faith.”
“In this case, which features a challenge to South Carolina’s redistricting efforts in the wake of the 2020 census, the three-judge District Court paid only lip service to these propositions,” the decision states.
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Sprinklers water the lawn in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“That misguided approach infected the District Court’s findings of fact, which were clearly erroneous under the appropriate legal standard,” Alito wrote.
The case stems from a challenge by the ACLU and the NAACP claiming that the redrawn maps following the 2020 census were illegally gerrymandered and had urged the justices to rule in time to impact upcoming congressional races.
However, a federal court panel that had initially struck down the maps as unconstitutional said in late March it was “plainly impractical” to wait for the Supreme Court to decide, and allowed the disputed maps to stand.
It is unclear the extent the high court’s ruling may will have on other 2024 elections, with many states already holding primaries or setting deadlines for early voter registrations.
The high court’s conservative majority in its ruling expressed concern over a federal court ruling that initially ordered South Carolina to create a new congressional map in time for the November 2024 election.
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The South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)
That three-judge panel found the coastal 1st Congressional District, now held by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., was an unlawful racial gerrymander when Republican lawmakers shifted about 30,000 Black voters from Charleston County over to the state’s 6th Congressional District, which became more solidly Democratic than it was before.
That seat is held by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a longtime member of Congress who is Black.
However, the high court’s delay in issuing its ruling means the disputed map will remain in place for the 2024 elections.
Justice Elana Kagan, backed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, saying, “In every way, the majority today stacks the deck against the Challengers. They must lose, the majority says, because the State had a ‘possible’ story to tell about not considering race—even if the opposite story was the more credible.”
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Seated, from left, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“And they must lose again, the majority says, because they failed to offer a particular form of proof—which they did not know would be relevant and which this Court recently told plaintiffs was not required,” she said.
“It does not matter that the Challengers offered extensive evidence, including expert statistical analyses, that the State’s districting plan was the product of racial sorting.”
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An early morning shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, nightclub Saturday left one man dead and seven others hospitalized, police confirmed to Fox News Digital, adding that there are no suspects.
The man was suffering from gunshot wounds when first responders arrived, the Louisville Metro Police Department said in a release, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The deceased was identified as Joseph D. Bowers of Indianapolis, The Associated Press reported.
Another adult who was shot was taken to the hospital with critical and life-threatening wounds following the 12:47 a.m. shooting.
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An early morning shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, nightclub Saturday left one man dead and seven others hospitalized, police confirmed to Fox News Digital. (WDRB)
Six other victims with non-life-threatening injuries had also taken themselves to the hospital.
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Louisville police said they have no suspects in the early Saturday shooting. (WDRB)
The H20 club, located at 25th and Broadway, decided to close after the shooting, the Louisville Courier Journal reported, citing a statement from the Louisville Metro Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The shooting happened at a nightclub called H20. (WDRB)
“This decision, made in light of our shared concerns for public safety, allows them time to mourn the tragic loss of their employee while ensuring the community’s well-being,” the statement stated. “The relationship of the victims, if any, is not known at this time.”
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NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez is now an American citizen.
Suarez, from Mexico, took the oath at the field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It wasn’t just the nearly 50 people becoming citizens there for the special day – even NASCAR president Steve Phelps was there, along with members of the rackhouse Racing team, as well as his fiancee.
All of that took Suarez by surprise.
NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez waves an American flag during a naturalization ceremony, June 18, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Noah Watts/Daylon Barr Photography, Trackhouse Racing via AP)
“The most special part of everything was, you see so many people there,” Suarez said Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I was not expecting it. I was not expecting to see so many people.”
“I didn’t think many people were going to really care about it,” Suarez said. “A lot of people really did.”
Suarez’s parents had actually thought about traveling to the United States for his birth, but it wound up being too expensive.
“It’s really funny how my parents, they had that thought before I was born, about being born in the United States, I guess to have more opportunities. They didn’t do it,” he said. “And now, I guess I did it my way.”
NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez stands for the “oath of allegiance” during a naturalization ceremony, June 18, 2024, in Charlotte. (Noah Watts/Daylon Barr Photography, Trackhouse Racing via AP)
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Suarez admitted that becoming a citizen wasn’t originally a thought.
“It wasn’t a dream of mine,” Suarez said. “I came to this country to race and compete. I had been working really hard to try and go to the next step and be more competitive. In a blink of an eye, I’ve been already here 12 years.”
He learned, and dedicated himself to, the process of becoming a citizen about six years ago – his team even quizzed him in April in Dover ahead of his citizenship test.
“I felt like it was the right time to start this process. Slowly, I’m getting more and more responsibilities in my life. It was the right time to feel more secure; that I belong here.”
Daniel Suarez walks the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 8, 2024, in California. (Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Suarez has two career Cup wins – including the closest finish ever at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
On this day in history, June 23, 1948, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is born in Georgia
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was born in Pin Point, Georgia on this day in history, June 23, 1948.
His entire family grappled with extreme poverty. His parents divorced when he was a toddler; Thomas’ father left the family when young Clarence was only two years old.
Eventually, Clarence Thomas was sent to live with his maternal grandfather following a house fire, multiple sources note.
Thomas’ grandfather had a profound impact on his life: Thomas even titled his 2008 memoir “My Grandfather’s Son.”
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“I even called him Daddy,” wrote Thomas in his book, “because that was what my mother called him … He was dark, strong, proud and determined to mold me in his image … He was the one hero in my life.”
Said Thomas in a September 2021 speech at the University of Notre Dame, “The single biggest event in my early life was going to live with my grandparents in 1955.”
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in Pin Point, Georgia. In his personal memoir, he wrote that his maternal grandfather was “the one hero in my life.” (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
As a young child, Thomas attended segregated Catholic schools for Black children.
He became the first Black student to be admitted to St. John Vianney, a Catholic minor seminary, said the website Oyez.
“My nuns and my grandparents lived out their sacred vocation in a time of stark racial animus, and did so with pride with dignity and with honor,” said Thomas at Notre Dame.
“To this day I revere, admire and love my nuns. They were devout, courageous and principled women,” he said.
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Despite his academic success at St. John Vianney, Thomas was the recipient of racially charged bullying, said Oyez.
Following graduation from St. John Vianney, Thomas intended on becoming a Catholic priest. He entered Immaculate Conception Seminary from 1967 to 1968.
He left seminary after again experiencing racism from classmates — and transferred to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, took his seat on the Supreme Court on Oct. 23, 1991. (AP Images)
He graduated cum laude in 1971, said Oyez.
In 1974, he graduated from Yale Law School and was admitted to law practice in Missouri of that same year, the Supreme Court’s website notes.
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Thomas worked in various roles throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including doing a stint as assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education and as chairman of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission from 1982 until 1990.
In 1990 until 1991, Thomas was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas. Thomas was born on this day in history, June 23, 1948. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
President George H. W. Bush appointed Thomas as an associate Supreme Court justice following the retirement of Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Marshall was the first Black member of the Supreme Court; Thomas was the second.
After a highly contentious confirmation hearing, the Senate voted 52-48 to approve Clarence Thomas to the high court, History.com noted.
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He was seated at the court on Oct. 23, 1991, at age 43.
During his time on the Supreme Court, Thomas has typically associated with the court’s conservative wing.
Members of the Supreme Court pose for a photo in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. Seated, second from left, is Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)
Thomas’ Martin-Quinn score — (or MQ score, referring to metrics used to gauge the ideology of Supreme Court justices based on their voting record) — of 3.05 during the 2021-2022 term was the most conservative of anyone on the court, the website Ballotpedia noted.
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Thomas is married to Virginia “Ginni” Thomas.
He has one son, Jamal, from a previous marriage, said Oyez.
Mark Paoletta, an attorney, close friend and co-author of the 2022 book, “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words,” told Fox News Digital two years ago of Thomas, “I think he is going to be considered one of our greatest justices. And he’s an originalist who had the courage to apply the Constitution and be faithful to the Constitution into the text of statute, come what may.”
He added, “His legacy is a courageous justice who faithfully applied the Constitution.”
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