Welp, as many predicted, SCOTUS punted on jerrymandering back to state courts. While this should help some rulings stand in NC, Republicans elsewhere are free to keep on keepin on as long as they control the state AG’s office.
Unfortunately there's not a lot in the constitution or existing
federal law to go on. The "rules" around redistricting are very rudimentary and don't provide a lot of guidance. AFAIK, there's basically only 2 things in play:
1. Equal population sizes per Apportionment Clause of Article I, Section 2
2. No discrimination on basis of race per Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That's it. Everything else we generally consider as the "standards" for redistricting (such as compactness, contiguity, etc) is either a state law or just generally accepted (but not enforceable) norms, not federal or constitutional requirement.
It kinda sucks but if you're going on the basis of what the Constitution actually says instead of what we all think it should say, SCOTUS punting on the issue as being "not a federal court purview" is understandable. It's certainly fixable with the passage of laws or constitutional amendments, but in the general absence of those at a federal level the ruling makes sense.