Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-1271_3f14.pdf
Page Number: 16.0

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

11 

Opinion of the Court 

and it did not prevent our granting certiorari.  The conces-
sions offered by the legislative defendants as part of the re-
hearing proceedings, the recent opinion issued by the North 
Carolina  Supreme  Court,  and  the  legislative  defendants’ 
briefing in this Court all tell the same story: Harper I con-
tinues  to  enjoin  the  use  of  the  2021  maps.   Following  the
dissent’s logic and dismissing this case as moot would fore-
close the one path to full relief available to the legislative 
defendants:  A  decision  by  this  Court  reversing  the  judg-
ment in Harper I. 

This Court has before it a judgment issued by a State’s 
highest  court  that  adjudicates  a  federal  constitutional  is-
sue.  The  defendants  did  not  ask  the  North  Carolina  Su-
preme  Court  to  vacate  that  judgment,  that  court  did  not
purport to do so, and the defendants now concede that they 
remain bound by it.  Cox Broadcasting considered our exer-
cise of jurisdiction where the “federal issue . . . will survive 
and  require  decision  regardless  of  the  outcome  of  future
state-court proceedings.”  420 U. S., at 480.  Unlike cases in 
which we must anticipate what the future might hold, we 
now know the resolution of the anticipated state court pro-
ceedings.  The record shows that Harper I finally decided
the  Elections  Clause  question,  the  judgment  in  that  case
continues to bind the parties before us, and the 2021 con-
gressional maps would again take effect in North Carolina 
were we to reverse.  Accordingly, we have jurisdiction under 
both Article III and §1257(a). 

III 
The  question  on  the  merits  is  whether  the  Elections 
Clause  insulates  state  legislatures  from  review  by  state 
courts for compliance with state law. 

Since  early  in  our  Nation’s  history,  courts  have  recog-
nized their duty to evaluate the constitutionality of legisla-
tive acts.  We announced our responsibility to review laws