(The Slice): A panel of three federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled on Monday, Jan. 24 that the GOP racially gerrymandered the congressional map to discriminate against Blacks, a violation of the Voting Right Act. They ordered Alabama’s Republican-dominated state legislature to immediately redraw voting district lines after determining the map they approved to be used in this year's November elections diminished the political power of Blacks. In a preliminary injunction the court stated there should be 2 districts instead of 1, reflecting Blacks as sizeable quotient of the electorate. This decision reinvigorates interest in two voting rights measures that were killed by U.S. Senate Republicans.
Per the Alabama ACLU: "The ruling was issued by a unanimous three-judge court in a lawsuit filed in November 2021 on behalf of Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, and several individuals who are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Alabama, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Hogan Lovells LLP, and Wiggins, Childs, Pantazis, Fisher & Goldfarb.
The state’s current map only has a single majority-Black district, District 7, which includes part of Birmingham and some of the Black Belt in Alabama. While Black people are about 27% of Alabama’s population, they are represented in only one of seven (14%) congressional districts."
In most states lawmakers revisit the redrawing of congressional maps once per decade following the Census Bureau’s counting of the U.S. population, to account for populations shifts. However, states both the Democratic and Republican parties manipulate the data to try to secure as many seats as possible for the next 10 years.
“Black people drove a disproportionate share of Alabama’s population growth. Throughout last year, Black Alabamians publicly called on the Legislature to recognize this reality and sought equal representation in Congress,” said LDF Senior Counsel Deuel Ross. in response to the victory. “The state ignored these demands, but we are deeply gratified that the unanimous court found that Black voters deserve full representation now. We look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure that Black voters are fairly represented in any remedial map.”
Meanwhile, Democrats and activists are waging lawsuits on similar claims in tow more states, Tennessee and Washington.