The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted an emergency appeal from Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, blocking a state court order that required New York’s Staten Island-based 11th Congressional District to be redrawn ahead of the midterm elections.
Malliotakis and New York Republican election officials asked the high court to intervene after a state appeals court cleared the way for the redistricting commission to redraw the district. Malliotakis argued the ruling had “thrown New York’s elections into chaos” and said the proposed redraw would amount to a racial gerrymander.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote separately that the state court directive “blatantly discriminates on the basis of race,” calling it “unadorned racial discrimination” that violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause except in the “most extraordinary case.” The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
New York’s primary is scheduled for June 23.
