gerrymandering

Democrats got a potential boost for the 2024 congressional elections as courts in Alabama and Florida ruled recently that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting power of Black residents.

A three-judge panel is blocking Alabama's new congressional map after lawmakers failed to create a second district where Black voters at least came close to comprising a majority, as suggested by the court. The ruling was cheered by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads the group Redistricting Foundation.

Federal judges reviewing Alabama's new congressional map sharply questioned if state lawmakers ignored the court's directive to create a second-majority Black district, so minority voters have a fair opportunity to influence elections.

All sides are scheduled to meet today before a three-judge federal panel over Alabama’s new Congressional voting map. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state’s first try at redrawing the district lines likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

Just a day after his latest arraignment, and just prior to Donald Trump’s appearance at an Alabama GOP dinner, Trump made this proclamation, in all capital letters, on his Truth Social site: "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."Speaking Friday at the Alabama Republican Party's annual Summer Dinner, Trump portrayed himself as the victim of political persecution, telling the crowd, "They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom."

Voting rights activists are returning to court to fight Alabama's redrawn congressional districts, saying state Republicans failed to follow federal court orders to create a district that is fair to Black voters.

Plaintiffs, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, opposed to Alabama’s newly redrawn Congressional voting map filed a legal challenge to the new districts. The action comes on the final day of public input before a three judge panel convenes in mid-August to consider the work of Republican lawmakers who declined to create a second black majority district in Alabama.

In its 5-4 Allen v. Milligan decision on June 8, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state of Alabama to redraw its congressional voting districts and consider race as it made up the new districts. The court had found that the state's political districts diluted the strength of Black voters by denying them the possibility of electing a second Black member to the state's congressional delegation. Alabama lawmakers declined to do so.

In two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 summer recess, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote majority opinions that involved the use of race. Alabama figures into this conversation.

A three judge federal panel is reportedly in the market for a new map maker. Published reports say the court’s current cartographer just withdrew from the case involving Alabama’s controversial Congressional map.