On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will listen to formal arguments regarding whether the congressional district boundaries of Alabama unfairly disfavor black voters.
Alabama drew out a revised redistricting plan for its seven House of Representatives seats after the 2020 census. A lawsuit was filed by a group of citizens from Alabama, the NAACP, and Greater Birmingham Ministries.
This is alleging the new maps reduced the power of black voters by putting people from “majority-black counties” into “majority-white congressional districts” to “make black voters have little or no voter impact.”
Map Should Show 2 District
They contend the map should be changed to provide two districts with a majority of black people, rather than only one, Congressional District 7.
Alabama will assert if the complaint is successful, the state will be compelled to adopt the unconstitutional method of giving preference to race when establishing election regulations, as the plaintiffs have criticized the state for doing.
Plaintiffs, however, contend more must be accomplished in Alabama to ensure that black voters have an opportunity to elect a black representative, due to the state’s population.
Alabama Violated Voting Rights
Besides the heavily black CD 7, black Alabamans have never elected a congressional representative in the 20th century. Additionally, CD 7 has only had a majority-black population since 1992.
The question even before the judge is whether Alabama violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which forbids racial discrimination in voting methods or procedures.
The ruling might help provide the courts’ interpretation of Section 2 in state redistricting disputes with long-needed clarity.
I wrote about the scary racial gerrymandering case that the Supreme Court will hear in 9 minutes. https://t.co/7FuoEakzr5
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) October 4, 2022
In January 2022, a three-judge bench in an Alabama district court rendered the case’s initial decision.
Alabama was given a two-week ultimatum to redraft a congressional map that contains two districts with a majority of black residents after the district court. This included two judges appointed by Trump, who found the state’s design probably violated Section 2.
Alabama appealed the lower court’s ruling in an urgent matter to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court.
The state’s petition was granted by the Supreme Court, enabling the current maps to continue to be used until the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on October 4 from both parties.
Whereas critics of Alabama’s electoral plan claim that it is all about dividing the Black vote.
Davin Rosborough, senior staff attorney for the ACLU and co-counsel on the lawsuit, claimed “these maps politicize race to weaken the political strength of minority communities in Alabama.”
Good morning from a cloudy Supreme Court now open to the public! You can see folks standing in line to get in. Today the court will hear a case about racial gerrymandering and the voting rights act. Read @AHoweBlogger’s story. @fox5dc https://t.co/LWwdGzqSxT pic.twitter.com/nEbW8G4DbG
— Katie Barlow (@katieleebarlow) October 4, 2022
A positive decision for Alabama will make it more difficult for anyone to dispute state maps, according to Adam White, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who spoke to Fox News Digital.
According to him, if the Supreme Court reverses the lower courts’ rulings, there will be less confusion regarding judicial review of district lines. Those who seek to dispute the lines will have to provide far more convincing proof of discriminatory purpose or effect.
Therefore, the legal review will be considerably easier.
This article appeared in The Patriot Brief and has been published here with permission.
