Cite as: 600 U. S. ____ (2023)
11
Opinion of the Court
and it did not prevent our granting certiorari. The concessions offered by the legislative defendants as part of the rehearing 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 continues to enjoin the use of the 2021 maps. Following the
dissent’s logic and dismissing this case as moot would foreclose the one path to full relief available to the legislative
defendants: A decision by this Court reversing the judgment in Harper I.
This Court has before it a judgment issued by a State’s
highest court that adjudicates a federal constitutional issue. The defendants did not ask the North Carolina Supreme 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 exercise 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 proceedings. 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 congressional 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 recognized their duty to evaluate the constitutionality of legislative acts. We announced our responsibility to review laws