re: Court strikes down NC state legislative district lines,

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The effect of the new districts was less black representation.

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not sure if this is the same case

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The lawmakers said they had tried to comply with the Voting Rights Act, which in some settings requires that black voters be concentrated in numbers sufficient to provide them with an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. But critics of the voting map said the legislature was actually trying to diminish the number of districts in the state that could be won by Democrats.

Writing for the majority, Justice Elena Kagan said states did not have unlimited leeway in drawing districts in a claimed attempt to comply with the voting law. With the decision, the court was also trying to solve a constitutional puzzle: how to disentangle the roles of race and partisanship when black voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats. The difference matters because the Supreme Court has said only racial gerrymandering is constitutionally suspect.

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so they have to keep the minority (black) voting strong while not diluting the outlying districts. this is a very, very difficult (maybe impossible) task. you can have black-majority districts to ensure no dilution in black representation or you can have more evenly-distributed districts around these areas. it's probably impossible to have both