Posted on 09/05/2023 10:04:45 AM PDT by Coronal
Alabama's Republican-backed congressional map illegally dilutes Black residents' voting power and must be redrawn, a panel of federal judges ruled on Tuesday, boosting Democrats' chances to win back a U.S. House majority.
The ruling is the second time the court has thrown out a congressional plan enacted by the Republican-controlled state legislature, and the three-judge panel in Birmingham wrote that it saw little reason to give lawmakers a third chance. Instead, a court-appointed special master will be tasked with creating a new map.
"We have now said twice that this Voting Rights Act case is not close," the judges wrote. "And we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires."
Under the Republican map, only one of the state's seven congressional districts is majority Black, though Black residents make up more than a quarter of the state's population. The state's lone Democratic U.S. representative, Terri Sewell, represents that district.
The panel first intervened in 2022, ruling that an earlier Republican plan was illegal. After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the panel's decision in June, the Birmingham court ordered Alabama legislators to create a second district with either a Black majority or "something quite close" to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The law bars lawmakers from drawing district lines in a manner that discriminates against minority voters.
The latest plan increased the number of Black voters in a second district but fell short of a majority, prompting civil rights groups to challenge the new map in court again.
The Alabama case is among several legal battles over redistricting that could result in new congressional maps in at least half a dozen states, enough to determine congressional control in the November 2024 election.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The American people got the shaft again. What does turning over voting districts to certain tribes have to do with Voting Rights? I thought our elections were for AMERICANS not for various non-American tribes.
“I guess what I’m suggesting is that any judge should be able to find that the law is unconstitutional on its face.“
Well, obviously the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is facially unconstitutional (and ten original Constitution cannot coexist with it).
I’m not so sure about the Voting Rights Act, since Amendment XV conferred on Congress the power to enforce it by “appropriate legislation”.
The core issue is that in a forest of laws covering the treatment of groups, only whites are not a group. That is going to change.
How is this not racist?
BLOAT
If ONLY we had the majority in the House of Reps. /sarcasm
Not really important, what is important is that The US Constitution is followed to a T.
Every bit of gerrymandering should stop. It would be easy to create districts with equal populations in such a way that the total length of district boundaries is minimized. This would be entirely independent of the racial makeup of the voters in any district.
Using computer programs it would be easy draw district lines that made sense. It would also be easy to have very accurate voter registration data at the county election level. But politicians get in the way....of most good ideas
That is entirely dependent on who the Judges are and who appointed them.
If they came from Clinton, Obama, or Biden, they are just lying sacks of sh*t, and if they came from Bush I, or Bush II, there is a 50/50 chance they are lying sacks of sh*t.
If they came from Reagan or Trump, there is a 30% chance they are lying sacks of sh*t.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
This amendment, as written, does nothing to speak about Congressional representation, district construction, or the like. It only guarantees that you have a right to cast a vote.
Last time I checked, if your constituency is out-numbered in an election setting by a 3-to-1 margin, you lose... every single time. Alabama Democrats should therefore be happy that they've been granted 1 Congressional district written in for them.
The argument by the Alabama legislature, therefore, should be that their maps are all about political purposes, not racial purposes. Politicial divisions are allowed... and they can certainly cite the districts of other (Blue) states to back that up.
Furthermore, the drawing of any district to favor a particular group based on race -- which is what this judge is demanding -- runs directly afoul of the very same 15th amendment he's allegedly upholding in this ruling.
That’s the trouble with most election reform. The ones who would have to pass the reform legislation got elected under the old system.
But discriminating against other races is fine.
The voting rights act should be scrapped as long as voting fraud is so tolerated.
Nothing to worry about. Chairman Lardbutt over at the RNC will surely be on top of this latest threat to Republican interests. Yup, any moment now. Coming right up.
What about Hispanic and Asian voters. Does anyone know of a case involving them?
Thus, we must assume the following:
* ALL blacks vote the same
* ALL blacks live in given areas where they are the majority
* They will never move.
* They will never change their party affiliation
* No other non-white minority counts
Pretty racist policy, if you ask me.
This would also mean that state election policies are to be determined by the federal courts, and not the states themselves.
And so what if..
.. A state (Alabama in this case) decides to allow the federal judge to make is ruling, then right before the election, the ballots are printed in the EXACT fashion the state legislature (and validated the state and judicial entities) choose?
Last I checked, no federal judge has the power to nullify a state election. Why can’t a state just say “fornicate U - this is what we’re doing anyway”?
just throwing this (and my $0.02) out there.
jimjohn
The Republicans that run Alabama have already said NO to this “order.” Now what does the Court do? Florida should say no as well.
Even baseball players get to swing 3 times before striking out.
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