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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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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