The entire political world in Alabama will be watching Monday to see what the court does with Alabama’s disputed redistricting case. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, August 14, in federal court at 9:00 a.m. CDT at the Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse in Birmingham.
The hearing will focus on whether the map recently passed by the Alabama State Legislature complies with section two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Civil rights groups sued the state challenging the redistricting map that the Legislature passed in 2021. A three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ordered a halt to the 2022 election over concerns the map violated the 58-year-old Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court intervened at the request of the state and allowed the election to proceed with the 2021 map.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 ruling that the congressional map likely violated the VRA and referred the case back to the three-judge panel. The Legislature was given until July 21 to submit a new map. The parties that sued the state and Alabama Democrats had wanted the Legislature to submit a map with two majority-minority districts. The Legislature, voting along party lines, refused and instead introduced and passed a controversial new map that simply increased Alabama’s Second Congressional District from 30% Black to 39.9%. That map kept the Gulf Coast, the Wiregrass, and Montgomery County whole; but was denounced by Democrats. The civil rights groups suing the state in federal court in Allen versus Milligan are asking the court to reject this new map.
Members of the Alabama House Democratic Caucus, including House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville), will be outside the courtroom on Monday to issue their response following the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.
Joining Daniels will be Caucus Chair Barbara Drummond (Mobile), Caucus Policy Chair Adline Clarke (Mobile), Caucus Secretary/ Treasurer Kelvin Lawrence (Hayneville), Rep. Patrice McClammy (Montgomery), Rep. Phillip Ensler (Montgomery), Rep. Chris England (Tuscaloosa), Rep. Patrick Sellers (Birmingham), Rep. Rolanda Hollis (Birmingham), Rep. Curtis Travis (Tuscaloosa), Rep. Napoleon Bracy (Mobile), Rep. Tashina Morris (Montgomery), Rep. A.J. McCampbell (Demopolis), and Rep. Sam Jones (Mobile) to comment on the court proceeding.
“As we gather for the August 14th federal court hearing in Birmingham, Alabama, surrounded by the hallowed sites of the Civil Rights movement, we are reminded that this moment is inseparable from that struggle,” Daniels said. “We hope and pray that this court hearing, this next step, is a step forward on a continued path towards fair representation for all.”
The Alabama House Democratic Caucus endorsed a redistricting plan, proposed by the Milligan and Caster plaintiffs, that would have created two majority Black congressional districts while respecting traditional redistricting guidelines. That map was rejected by the Republican supermajority and largely excluded from consideration during the legislative process.
The major party primaries are on March 5, with candidate qualifying opening on October 16, so knowing where the congressional district lines are for that pending election is of some importance.
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