Opinion of the Court
case. The plaintiffs here sought to enjoin the use of the 2021 plans enacted by the legislative defendants. Harper I granted that relief, and in doing so rejected the Elections Clause defense at issue before us. 380 N. C., at 403, 868 S. E. 2d, at 559. Prior to both the appeal and rehearing proceedings in Harper II, the North Carolina Supreme Court had already entered the judgment and issued the mandate in Harper I. See App. to Pet. for Cert. 306–309. And the time during which the defendants could seek rehearing as to that judgment had long since passed. See N. C. Rule App. Proc. 31(a) (2023) (requiring that a rehearing petition be brought within 15 days of the issuance of the mandate). Recognizing this reality, the legislative defendants did not ask the North Carolina Supreme Court to disturb the judgment in Harper I as part of the rehearing proceedings. They instead acknowledged that they would remain bound by Harper I’s decision enjoining the use of the 2021 plans. See Pet. for Rehearing 24 (“[O]verruling Harper I will not negate the force of its order striking down the 2021 plans.”).
The North Carolina Supreme Court “overruled” Harper I, thereby granting the specific relief requested by the legislative defendants. As a result, partisan gerrymandering claims are no longer justiciable under the State’s Constitution. Harper, ___ N. C., at ___, 886 S. E. 2d, at 449. But although the defendants may now draw new congressional maps, they agree that the North Carolina Supreme Court overruled only the “reasoning of Harper I” and did not “disturb … its judgment nor … alter the presently operative statutes of North Carolina.” Second Supp. Letter Brief for Petitioners 3. In other words, although partisan gerrymandering claims are no longer viable under the North Carolina Constitution, the North Carolina Supreme Court has done nothing to alter the effect of the judgment in Harper I enjoining the use of the 2021 maps. As a result, the legislative defendants’ path to complete relief runs through this Court.
