UNITED STATES NEWS

Alabama asks US Supreme Court again to intervene in redistricting case

Sep 11, 2023, 12:50 PM | Updated: Sep 12, 2023, 4:28 am

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let it keep Republican-drawn congressional lines in place as the state continues to fight a court order to create a second district where Black voters constitute a majority or close to it.

Despite losing at the Supreme Court earlier this year in the long-running redistricting case, Alabama is pursuing another appeal, hoping for a different result with the most recent GOP version of the map. Alabama asked the justices to stay a ruling issued last week by a three-judge panel that that blocked the use of the latest GOP-drawn districts in upcoming elections and directed a court-appointed special master to propose new lines for the state.

The judges, in their ruling, said Alabama lawmakers deliberately defied their directive to create a second majority-Black district or something close to it.

The Alabama attorney general’s office asked justices to put the order on hold while the state appeals “so that millions of Alabama voters are not soon districted into that court-ordered racial gerrymander.”

“Race-based redistricting at the expense of traditional principles bears an uncomfortable resemblance to political apartheid,” the attorney general’s office wrote.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which backed one of the court challenges in Alabama, likened the state’s actions to that of former segregationist Gov. George Wallace who tried to stop Black students from entering the University of Alabama in 1963.

“This is a shameful and arrogant continuation of a sordid history in Alabama that denies equal rights to Black Alabamians, no matter how the United States Supreme Court rules,” Holder said.

The Supreme Court in June upheld a three-judge panel’s finding that Alabama’s prior map — with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act. The three judges said the state should have two districts where Black voters have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.

Alabama lawmakers in July hastily passed a new map as a remedy. However, it maintained a single majority-Black district and boosted the percentage of Black voters in another district, District 2, from about 30% to nearly 40%. The three-judge panel chided Alabama lawmakers for flouting their instruction. The panel directed a court-appointed special master to submit three proposed new maps by Sept. 25.

The state’s request to the Supreme Court comes after the three judges refused to put their order on hold as the state appeals. The judges said state voters should not have to endure another congressional election under an “unlawful map.”

“We repeat that we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the Secretary readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires. And we are disturbed by the evidence that the State delayed remedial proceedings but did not even nurture the ambition to provide that required remedy,” the judges wrote Monday as they refused to stay their order.

Alabama’s hope for a reversal of fortune seems to at least partly hinge on persuading Justice Brett Kavanaugh to support the state’s side in the latest round. Kavanaugh did not join in all of the majority opinion.

Alabama’s court filing repeatedly cites Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in the case this summer. He wrote that even if race-based redistricting was allowed under the Voting Rights Act for a period of time, that “the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future.”

United States News

Associated Press

California sues anti-abortion organizations for unproven treatment to reverse medication abortions

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday sued an anti-abortion group and a chain of anti-abortion counseling centers, saying the organizations misled women when they offered them unproven treatments to reverse medication abortions. Heartbeat International, a national anti-abortion group, and RealOptions Obria, which has five anti-abortion counseling centers in Northern California, […]

31 minutes ago

Associated Press

New York attorney general sends cease-and-desist letter to group accused of voter intimidation

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The New York attorney general’s office on Thursday sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group accused of confronting voters at their homes while claiming to be state election officials and falsely accusing people of committing voter fraud. The letter orders the group NY Citizens Audit to immediately stop any voter intimidation […]

48 minutes ago

Associated Press

1 killed, multiple people hurt as bus carrying children crashes on New York highway

WAWAYANDA, N.Y. (AP) — A charter bus carrying schoolchildren crashed on a New York highway and went down an embankment Thursday, killing one person and hurting multiple other people, police said. The wreck happened on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda, about 45 miles northwest of New York City, state police said. The bus […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Former US Sen. Dick Clark, an Iowa Democrat known for helping Vietnam War refugees, has died at 95

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Dick Clark, a Democrat who unexpectedly won a single term representing Iowa in the 1970s after campaigning by walking around the state, and who later played a key role in aiding refugees after the Vietnam War, has died. He was 95. Clark died Wednesday at his home […]

2 hours ago

FILE - A road cuts through a flooded area south of Perry, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane ...

Associated Press

Florida agriculture losses between $78M and $371M from Hurricane Idalia, preliminary estimate says

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida agriculture losses from Hurricane Idalia are estimated at between $78 million and $371 million, with producers also suffering widespread damage to such infrastructure as irrigation rigs and fences, according to a preliminary report Thursday from the University of Florida. The Category 3 hurricane came ashore Aug. 30 along Florida’s […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Senate confirms new army chief as one senator’s objection holds up other military nominations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is confirming three of the Pentagon’s top leaders, filling the posts after monthslong delays and as a Republican senator is still holding up hundreds of other nominations and promotions for military officers. Gen. Randy George was confirmed as Army Chief of Staff on Thursday, and Gen. Eric Smith is expected […]

3 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Importance of AC maintenance after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

An air conditioning unit in Phoenix is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat.

Sanderson Ford...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford congratulates D-backs’ on drive to great first half of 2023

The Arizona Diamondbacks just completed a red-hot first half of the major league season, and Sanderson Ford wants to send its congratulations to the ballclub.

...

Mayo Clinic

Game on! Expert sports physicals focused on you

With tryouts quickly approaching, now is the time for parents to schedule physicals for their student-athlete. The Arizona Interscholastic Association requires that all student-athletes must have a physical exam completed before participating in team practices or competition.

Alabama asks US Supreme Court again to intervene in redistricting case