500: A renewed legal battle over redistricting and teacher pay

Plain Talk

The State of North Dakota is back in court over redistricting. This time, the state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that the state had previously argued for. Specifically, the dismissal of a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of legislative subdistricts created by lawmakers in an attempt to enhance the state's Native American vote in two districts.

The courts ended up striking down that map anyway and replacing it with a new one, but this separate legal action questions whether creating subdistricts in just two districts passes muster under the 14th amendment's equal protection provisions.

Is it constitutional for some North Dakotans to vote for just two members of the Legislature on election day, while others get to vote for three?

Robert Harms, an attorney (and a Republican candidate for the state Senate in District 2) joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the case.

Also on this episode, Nick Archuleta, the president of North Dakota United, joined to discuss a recent study looking at teacher pay which indicates that North Dakota is moving down the rankings in terms of average salaries for educators.

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