The Supreme Court has just ruled in a 5-4 vote that Alabama Republicans can go ahead with their congressional redistricting plan, despite it being blocked by a lower court. This from therightscoop.com.
Justice John Roberts, who truly is a liberal, of course, joined the other liberals on the court.
NEW: The Supreme Court allows Alabama to implement a congressional redistricting plan that is being challenged as illegal racial gerrymandering. The vote is 5-4, with Roberts joining the liberals in dissent. https://t.co/ibTfRckvPV
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) February 7, 2022
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed a congressional map drawn by Alabama Republicans to remain in place, freezing a lower court ruling that said the map likely violates the Voting Rights Act. https://t.co/R2bcLB6A4W
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 7, 2022
Here’s more from NBC News:
In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for Alabama to use its new congressional district map even though a lower court said it violated the Voting Rights Act by denying Black voters a new district.
The court granted a request from Alabama Republicans to put a hold on the lower court ruling.
The case—the first to reach the Supreme Court involving the redrawing of political boundaries with 2020 census results—could affect redistricting in other states that experienced gains in minority populations.
The Supreme Court also said it would hear Alabama’s challenge to the lower court ruling that declared the maps void. That appeal will not likely be heard until the court’s new term begins in the fall. As a practical matter, the court’s action allows Alabama Republicans to use their map for this year’s elections.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the three liberal justices in saying the Supreme Court should not have put the lower court ruling on hold.
This is great news from the high court for Republicans. The case hasn’t been officially tried yet, but hopefully this is some indication of how the courts will rule in the future.
Here’s more on the details:
In drawing Alabama’s new map, the Republican-controlled legislature maintained a single district in which Black voters are the majority—the seventh, which includes Birmingham and several counties along the state’s western border. In response to lawsuits, a panel of three federal judges said the map should add a second district “in which Black voters comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”
The panel, which included one judge appointed by Bill Clinton and two appointed by Donald Trump, said Black voters had less opportunity to elect their candidates of their choice to Congress.
An emergency application to the Supreme Court filed by Alabama Republican officials said drawing two minority districts would actually force the state to violate federal law.
“It will result in a map that can be drawn only by placing race first above race-neutral districting criteria, sorting and splitting voters across the state on the basis of race alone,” they said.
What does this mean Def-Con News readers?
Well, first we can anticipate a chorus of democrats’ screaming demands addressing court packing after this decision.
And this may also demonstrate there will be a majority of originalist constitutionalism on the high court to address current and future democrat attempts of gerrymandering.
Final thought: Let’s take this moment to reflect upon the four years of President Trump. Some people are calling him a stop-gap president and that he merely provided Conservatism a four-year reprieve from the depths of destruction the Soros-Obama plan is leading us. However, in at least one aspect, his three Supreme Court appointees may assist with the stop-gap for years to come.
God speed to Conservatism.
And may God bless America.
