Supreme Court to hear Maryland, North Carolina gerrymandering cases News
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Supreme Court to hear Maryland, North Carolina gerrymandering cases

The US Supreme Court agreed Friday once again to take up partisan gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina.

The court postponed further consideration of the question of jurisdiction in Rucho v. Common Cause, the North Carolina case, and Lamone v. Benisek, the Maryland case, and set arguments for March.

Both cases have been before the court previously. The court sent the North Carolina case back to the lower court last June, and the district court once again struck the map down in August.

The court refused to rule on the merits of the Maryland case last June, and the district court ordered the state to redraw its map in November.

Also Friday, the court granted certiorari in four other cases. In Iancu v. Brunetti the court will decide whether the Lanham Act’s “prohibition on the federal registration of ‘immoral’ or ‘scandalous’ marks is facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.”

In Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian the court will consider, “whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held, in express disagreement with five other courts of appeals, that Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 supports an inferred private right of action based on a negligent misstatement or omission made in connection with a tender offer.”

In Taggart v. Lorenzen the court will determine, “whether, under the Bankruptcy Code, a creditor’s good-faith belief that the discharge injunction does not apply precludes a finding of civil contempt.”

Finally, in United States v. Davis the court will decide, “Whether the subsection-specific definition of ‘crime of violence’ in 18 USC 924(c)(3)(B), which applies only in the limited context of a federal criminal prosecution for possessing, using, or carrying a firearm in connection with acts comprising such a crime, is unconstitutionally vague.”