North State Journal: “A federal appeals court declined Thursday to order North Carolina legislators to redraw some state Senate districts, rejecting arguments that clear evidence has been presented showing Republican manipulation of boundaries means black voters there are prevented from electing their favored candidates.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, upheld a trial court judge’s decision in January that refused to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the use of two Senate districts and to order the General Assembly to redraw them.
Two black voters who sued in November contend that the GOP-controlled legislature violated the Voting Rights Act last fall by fracturing a politically cohesive unit known as the “Black Belt” region when it redrew the two northeastern districts.”