The Supreme Court ruled against the Virginia House of Delegates in a new racial gerrymandering case.

The case began in 2011 when a group of citizens in twelve districts sued the State asserting that the districts had been created with intentional racial disparities. The District Court ordered the House of Delegates to draw up a new map within the next four months. The House of Delegates had joined the case as an intervenor, but shortly after the District Court’s decision, the State Attorney General announced that the State would not be appealing the District Court ruling. The House of Delegates then took it upon themselves arguing that they had standing to appeal in their own right. They argued that redistricting would inherently change the voters they were elected to represent and would cause them an Article III harm.

The Supreme court ruled 5-4 in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg that the House of Delegates did not have standing to appeal on their own. Justice Ginsburg reviewed the state’s declaration that the State Attorney General was responsible for representing the government in all cases and controversies and found that the House of Delegates did not have a right to litigate on behalf of the state. At a minimum Justice Ginsburg asserted that the House of Delegates would have needed the support of the State Senate as well. Justice Ginsburg dismissed their harm from representing different voters as any such change by redistricting would only take affect at the next election as with traditional decennial redistricting. Justice Alito delivered the dissent where he claimed that redistricting fundamentally changes the work that will be output from the legislature harming representatives in significant ways as what they create may be fundamentally different from what they were elected to do initially. Justice Ginsburg left the door open for potential asserted harms at the individual representative level, but denied the legislature the ability to sue as a whole.

Former Attorney General to Barack Obama, Eric Holder, released a statement through the National Redistricting Foundation:

“Today’s ruling from the Supreme Court is an important victory for African Americans in Virginia who have been forced since 2011 to vote in racially gerrymandered districts that unfairly diluted their voting power. With a new, fair map in place, all Virginians will now – finally – have the opportunity this fall to elect a House of Delegates that actually represents the will of the people.”

As illustrated in Holder’s statement, this should have a dramatic impact on the Virginia Legislature in upcoming elections.