A federal court threw out Alabama’s latest congressional map, with the justices writing they were “disturbed” by the way the Republican-controlled Legislature drew its districts. In a scathing opinion, the court said the state “did not even entertain the ambition” to comply with the Voting Rights Act and create a district that reflected the state’s black population.
Earlier this year, federal judges threw out a seven-district congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers after finding it may have violated the landmark Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of black voters in the state.
On appeal, the US Supreme Court agreed with the lower court, ruling that the map appeared to discriminate against black voters. While black residents make up about 27% of Alabama’s population, only one of the state’s seven counties currently includes a majority black population.
The Alabama Legislature was then ordered to comply with the Voting Rights Act and redraw districts that accurately reflected the state’s population. Instead, the judges say, the Republican Legislature proposed an updated map that would still benefit Republicans, not black voters.
Alabama Legislature Ignores Supreme Court Order to Create Another Majority Black Congressional District
“We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature—faced with a federal court order declaring that its election plan illegally dilutes the minority vote and requires a plan that provides additional opportunity districts—has responded with a plan that the state admits does not provide that district,” the justices said in a new decision filed Tuesday. “The law requires the creation of an additional district that gives black Alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. The 2023 plan clearly does not do that.”
The justices added that they are “deeply disturbed that the state has enacted a map that the state readily admits does not provide the remedy that we have said federal law requires. We are troubled by the evidence that the state delayed the redress process, but ultimately did not even harbored the ambition to provide the requested remedy.”
The Supreme Court, in a Shock 5-4 decision, ruled that Alabama discriminated against black voters
The federal court added that since the state had refused to draw a map that would reflect Alabama’s population, it would appoint a special master to draw a seat in which blacks would be properly represented.
“Based on the evidence before us, including the testimony of legislators, we have no reason to believe that allowing the Legislature one more opportunity to draw another map will produce a map that includes an additional opportunity,” the court said in its order. , noting, “We do not take lightly federal intrusion into a process normally reserved for the state legislature.”
Alabama’s new congressional map is likely to have a national impact once it is approved. The Democratic Party lost its majority in the US House of Representatives by just a few seats in the 2022 midterm elections, which may explain why Alabama Republicans have so far not compromised on creating districts that accurately reflect the makeup of the state.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education