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Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 21–248 
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PHILIP E. BERGER, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. NORTH 
CAROLINA STATE CONFERENCE OF THE 
NAACP, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

[June 23, 2022] 

JUSTICE GORSUCH delivered the opinion of the Court. 
At the heart of this lawsuit lies a challenge to the consti-
tutionality of a North Carolina election law.  But the merits 
of that dispute are not before us, only an antecedent ques-
tion of civil procedure:  Are two leaders of North Carolina’s 
state  legislature  entitled  to  participate  in  the  case  under
the terms of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2)? 

I 
A 
Within  wide  constitutional  bounds,  States  are  free  to 
structure  themselves as  they  wish.    Often,  they  choose to 
conduct  their affairs through a  variety of branches, agen-
cies, and elected and appointed officials.  These constituent 
pieces  sometimes  work  together  to  achieve  shared  goals;
other times they reach very different judgments about im-
portant policy questions and act accordingly.  This diffusion 
of governmental powers within and across institutions may 
be an everyday feature of American life.  But it can also pose
its difficulties when a State’s laws or policies are challenged 
in federal court.