{"id":2023725,"date":"2023-09-06T17:20:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T21:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-appeals-to-us-supreme-court-in-battle-over-congressional-district-map\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T17:24:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T21:24:16","slug":"alabama-appeals-to-us-supreme-court-in-battle-over-congressional-district-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-appeals-to-us-supreme-court-in-battle-over-congressional-district-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama seeks US Supreme Court review in dispute over congressional district map."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falabama-appeals-to-us-supreme-court-in-battle-over-congressional-district-map%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2023725&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>Alabama lawmakers have appealed to the \u200bU.S. Supreme Court \u2063(SCOTUS) over the\u200c state&#8217;s congressional redistricting\u200d fight.<\/p>\n<p>This comes hours after a federal court struck down the latest map on Sept.\u200b 5, months\u2062 after allegedly\u200b ignoring a similar court order\u200b requiring that the state lawmakers adhere to the Voting Rights Act (VRA).<\/p>\n<p>Alabama Secretary\u200d of\u2062 State Wes Allen immediately filed an appeal to the Supreme Court\u2062 and a stay on the latest ruling until the state&#8217;s case is heard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/federal-court-strikes-down-alabama-congressional-map-after-lawmakers-defy-court-order-5486446\">Federal Court Strikes Down Alabama Congressional Map After Lawmakers Defy Court Order<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/5\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/federal-court-strikes-down-alabama-congressional-map-after-lawmakers-defy-court-order-5486446\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-courts-alabama-ruling-sets-up-potential-clash-over-racial-gerrymandering-experts-5477439\">Supreme Court&#8217;s Alabama Ruling Sets Up \u2064Potential \u2063Clash Over \u200c&#8217;Racial Gerrymandering&#8217;: Experts<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/21\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-courts-alabama-ruling-sets-up-potential-clash-over-racial-gerrymandering-experts-5477439\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Notice is hereby given that Defendant Secretary of State Wes Allen hereby appeals to the Supreme Court of the United \u2063States from this Court\u2019s September 5, 2023 \u2062Injunction, Opinion, and Order,&#8221; court documents said.<\/p>\n<p>However, SCOTUS is expected to strike down the map after it rejected a\u200c similar draft on\u200b June 8, which ruled that state\u200b lawmakers had allegedly racially gerrymandered districts in violation \u200cof the VRA.<\/p>\n<p>State officials also filed an appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n<p>In response to Alabama&#8217;s \u200cappeal, President Joe Biden&#8217;s Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told\u200d the Supreme Court, &#8220;Voting in Alabama is intensely racially polarized,\u200b about as stark as anywhere in the country.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    &#8220;The history and effects of racial discrimination in the state are severe. Black voters are significantly underrepresented.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Alabama Republicans Lose Third Ruling Over Redistricting<\/h2>\n<p>    \u2064 A \u2064three-judge panel for the U.S. District Court \u200cfor the Northern District of Alabama ruled that changes \u200bto the map were not\u2062 sufficient.<br \/>\n \u200d\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<p>Judge Stanley Marcus, an appointee of President Bill Clinton and Judges\u2064 Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer, who were both appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote the decision.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u2062  \u200cThe recently rejected \u2062map, which was passed by the Alabama legislature \u2062in July, includes one majority-black district and another where 40 percent of the voting \u200dpopulation is black.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n      \u2062 \u2062    In its 217-page decision (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/39def3a0-b56a-480d-bdf7-92f0e69fc1b4.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>), the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eli-lilly-sued-for-age-discrimination-by-u-s-agency-eeoc\/\" title=\"Eli Lilly sued for age discrimination by U.S. agency EEOC\">federal court accused<\/a> the Republican-controlled legislature of failing to\u200d comply with its previous order, that it draw \u200bup an electoral map consistent with its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act.\n    <\/div>\n<p>    &#8220;We do not\u200c take lightly federal\u200c intrusion into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-seeks-supreme-court-intervention-in-congressional-map-fight\/\" title=\"Alabama asks Supreme Court to intervene in congressional map dispute.\">process ordinarily reserved<\/a> for the State \u200cLegislature. But we have now said twice that this Voting Rights Act case \u200dis not close,&#8221; the panel wrote.\n  <\/div>\n<p>&#8220;But we \u200bhave now said twice\u200d that this Voting Rights\u2064 Act case is not close. And we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State \u200dreadily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2062 are disturbed by the evidence that the State delayed remedial proceedings but ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide\u200c the required remedy. And we are struck by the extraordinary circumstance we face.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature\u2014faced \u200dwith a federal court order declaring that its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-appeals-to-us-supreme-court-in-battle-over-congressional-district-map\/\" title=\"Alabama seeks US Supreme Court review in dispute over congressional district map.\">electoral plan \u2063unlawfully dilutes \u200cminority votes<\/a> and \u2062requiring a plan\u200c that provides an additional opportunity district\u2014responded with a plan that the \u200dstate concedes does not provide that \u200cdistrict.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The law requires the creation of an additional district that affords Black Alabamians, like everyone else, a \u2064fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of\u200d their choice. The 2023 Plan plainly fails to do so.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The court rejected Alabama&#8217;s argument that drawing a second black-majority district would unconstitutionally constitute &#8220;affirmative action in redistricting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unlike affirmative action in the admissions programs the Supreme Court analyzed in Harvard, which was expressly aimed\u200b at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-strikes-down-alabama-congressional-map-after-lawmakers-defy-court-order\/\" title=\"Alabama's congressional map invalidated by federal court due to lawmakers' defiance of court order.\">achieving balanced racial outcomes<\/a> in the makeup\u2064 of\u200c the universities\u2019 \u200dstudent bodies, the Voting Rights Act guarantees only &#8216;equality of \u2063opportunity,\u2064 not a guarantee of electoral success for minority-preferred candidates of whatever race,'&#8221; \u200bthey added.<\/p>\n<p>The court was referring to the June SCOTUS decision, Students \u2063for Fair \u2062Admissions Inc. v. President and\u200b Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-lets-starbucks-keep-its-race-based-hiring-quotas\/\" title=\"Judge allows Starbucks to maintain race-based hiring quotas.\">racially discriminatory admissions \u2064policies<\/a> at U.S. colleges.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Voting Rights \u2062Act \u200cdoes not provide a leg up for Black\u2064 voters\u2014it \u200bmerely prevents them from being \u2062kept down with regard to \u200bwhat is arguably the most &#8216;fundamental political right,&#8217; in that it is &#8216;preservative of all\u200c rights&#8217;\u2014the right to vote,&#8221; the panel\u2063 concluded.<\/p>\n<p>The court also ordered that a special master and a cartographer would have to prepare and submit three new, statutorily compliant maps by Sept. 25.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    A hearing is scheduled for opponents of the map for Oct.\u2064 3.<br \/>\n \u2064<\/p>\n<h2>Kavanaugh and \u2062Roberts Side With Democrats<\/h2>\n<p>    In January 2022, the district court issued a preliminary injunction against Mr.\u2064 Allen&#8217;s predecessor, Alabama\u2019s then-secretary\u200c of state, John \u200bMerrill, which \u200dtemporarily forbade him from conducting any congressional elections in the state.\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u2064 \u2062  \u2063The state \u200dtook the lower court&#8217;s ruling to SCOTUS for an appeal,\u2064 but in May, the higher court ruled in Allen v. Milligan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/22pdf\/21-1086_1co6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(pdf)<\/a> that Alabama had to redraw its congressional map to include a se\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>appealed to SCOTUS after a federal court invalidated Alabama&#8217;s congressional redistricting map. The court accused state lawmakers of disregarding a previous order to comply with the VRA. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen promptly took action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":2023726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2023725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2023725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2023725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2023725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2023725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}