{"id":586859,"date":"2023-08-13T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/gop-faces-judicial-showdown-over-alabama-map\/"},"modified":"2023-08-13T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T16:00:00","slug":"gop-faces-judicial-showdown-over-alabama-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gop-faces-judicial-showdown-over-alabama-map\/","title":{"rendered":"#GOP faces judicial showdown over Alabama map"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/congressional-maps_072023ap_alabama.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A court showdown is set for Monday in the battle over Alabama\u2019s congressional map and whether the Republican-led state defied the Supreme Court by not drawing a second majority-Black district.<\/p>\n<p>Challengers have filed objections to Alabama\u2019s new map, which lawmakers passed after their previous design was struck down for likely diluting the power of Black voters.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>On Monday morning, a three-judge panel sitting in Birmingham, Ala., will hear arguments on the legality of\u00a0the new boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlabama is in open defiance of the federal courts,\u201d one group of challengers wrote in their objection.<\/p>\n<p>No matter the decision, state officials say a map needs to be finalized by about Oct. 1 to have enough time to prepare for next year\u2019s primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the court strikes down the new map, it could instead <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>oint a special master to draw the lines for the 2024 elections.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing is the latest development in a legal battle that has already reached the Supreme Court and is being closely watched by both political parties.<\/p>\n<p>In one of its highest-profile decisions of the year, the justices in a 5-4 June decision\u00a0affirmed the three-judge panel\u2019s ruling, which had found the legislature\u2019s map likely violated the Voting Rights Act, handing a win to voting rights advocates and Democrats.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The panel had ruled a new design \u201cwill need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the GOP-controlled legislature convened for a special session in a new attempt to come up with a map.<\/p>\n<p>It maintained Alabama\u2019s one existing majority-Black district, though it decreased the Black voting-age population there by 5 percentage points.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But the map notably did not go as far to create a second majority-Black district, only increasing the percentage of Black voters in the 2nd Congressional District from 30 percent to 40 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Alabama argues their map is compliant because it prioritizes traditional redistricting principles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 2023 Plan prioritizes the Black Belt to the fullest extent possible\u2014even better than Plaintiffs\u2019 alternatives\u2014while still managing to preserve long-recognized communities of interest in the Gulf and Wiregrass. Plaintiffs cannot produce an alternative map with a second majority-black district without splitting at least two of those communities of interest,\u201d the state wrote in court filings.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But the plaintiffs in the original lawsuits \u2014 individual voters and voting rights advocates \u2014 are urging the court to block the legislature\u2019s latest attempt as an illegal racial gerrymander.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlabama\u2019s new congressional map ignores this Court\u2019s preliminary injunction order and instead perpetuates the Voting Rights Act violation that was the very reason that the Legislature redrew the map,\u201d one group of challengers wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Another group wrote the map is not legal for \u201ca very simple reason: it fails to create a re<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>l district in which Black voters have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. The demographic statistics of [the map] speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The state, meanwhile, claimed it is the challengers\u2019 proposals that would run afoul of Supreme Court precedents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir objections boil down to one thing: the Legislature didn\u2019t do enough to prioritize race over neutral principles and thereby ensure that Democrats can reliably win in at least two congressional districts in Alabama,\u201d the state wrote in court filings.<\/p>\n<p>The case is being closely watched on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The National Republican Redistricting Trust, the primary group responsible for coordinating the party\u2019s redistricting strategy, urged the court to uphold the legislature\u2019s map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is nonsense. Far from being contrary to the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, Alabama\u2019s 2023 Plan faithfully follows it\u2014and the Plaintiffs\u2019 plans disregard it,\u201d the group wrote in an amicus brief.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Teri Sewell, Alabama\u2019s lone Democrat in Congress who represents the singular majority-Black district, filed a brief alongside members of the Congressional Black Caucus supporting the challengers.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIn the face of a clear judicial mandate to enact a redistricting scheme that creates two majority-minority districts or \u2018something quite close to it,\u2019 the Alabama legislature has demonstrated that it remains willing and eager to engage in racially discriminatory vote dilution in contravention of a federal decree,\u201d the lawmakers\u2019 attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuch an attempt must not be tolerated; the Court\u2019s holding must have teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department had backed the challengers before the Supreme Court, but it did not side with either party in the latest iteration of the case.<\/p>\n<p>The department did, however, submit to the panel a 21-page analysis of relevant case law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether Districts 2 and 7, the two districts with the highest concentrations of Black voters in the 2023 Plan, provide an equal opportunity for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice hinges on how the districts perform for Black-preferred candidates in a functional analysis,\u201d the Justice Department wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould the 2023 Plan fail to cure the likely Section 2 violation, the Court must design and effectuate its own remedial plan,\u201d the brief continued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/4149690-gop-faces-judicial-showdown-over-alabama-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A court showdown is set for Monday in the battle over Alabama\u2019s congressional map and whether the Republican-led state defied the Supreme Court by not drawing a second majority-Black district. Challengers have filed objections to Alabama\u2019s new map, which lawmakers passed after their previous design was struck down for likely diluting the power of Black&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":586860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/congressional-maps_072023ap_alabama.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[3724,134343,134353,124783,134345,145027,137895],"class_list":["post-586859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-alabama","tag-campaign","tag-court-battles","tag-international","tag-state-watch","tag-teri-sewell","tag-voting-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}