Different judges = different ruling (Times-Dispatch [1]).
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel today upheld the constitutionality of 12 districts in the House of Delegates that plaintiffs said diluted the voting power of African-Americans.
“The court holds that each of the 12 challenged districts withstands constitutional scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause,” wrote Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne, joined by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.
Judge Payne was the dissenter in the case that shot down the 3rd Congressional District. He’s the only one who was on both cases.
Given the discrepancy, this all but ensures an appeal to the Supreme Court, which already has the 3rd on its plate. What they do with it (remembering that old-school Republican jurists are not fond of racial gerrymandering) is anyone’s guess.
Stay tuned…