阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利。-投票权活动人士重返法庭，反对阿拉巴马州重新划定的国会选区，称该州共和党人未能遵循联邦法院的命令，创建一个对黑人选民公平的选区。
备受瞩目的重划选区案的原告周五提交了一份书面异议，反对阿拉巴马州的新重划选区计划。他们指责州共和党人无视司法授权，创建第二个多数黑人区或“相当接近它的东西”，并制定了一份继续歧视该州黑人选民的地图。
2022年，一个由三名法官组成的特别小组阻止了该州现有选区的使用，并表示任何新的国会地图都应该包括两个“黑人选民占投票年龄多数”或类似的选区。该州对该委员会的决定提出了上诉，但美国最高法院在6月份的一项令人惊讶的裁决中维持了原判，该裁决一致认为，在七个黑人占多数的地区中只有一个——在一个每四个居民中就有一个以上是黑人的州——可能违反了联邦法律。
本案原告由全美有色人种协进会法律辩护律师事务所代理&教育基金和其他团体，要求三法官小组介入，并为国家划定新的界限。
“阿拉巴马州的新国会地图忽略了法院的初步禁令，而是延续了选举权法案的违规行为，这正是立法机构重新绘制地图的原因，”代表该案原告的律师写道。
共和党控制的阿拉巴马州立法机构颁布的新地图维持了一个黑人占多数的选区，但在白人占多数的第二国会选区，黑人选民的比例从约30%提高到39.9%，该选区目前由共和党众议员巴里·摩尔(Barry Moore)代表
代表原告的律师周五写道，改造后的选区“没有为黑人选民提供现实的机会，让他们在最极端的情况下选出自己喜欢的候选人。”他们指责州共和党人无视法院的指令，优先考虑一个将由共和党控制的地区，“取悦国家领导人，他们的目标是保持共和党在美国众议院的微弱多数。”
阿拉巴马州坚持认为新计划符合选举权法案的要求，各州领导人打赌该委员会将接受他们的建议，或者该州将在最高法院的第二轮上诉中获胜。共和党人认为，该地图符合法院的指令，并按照重新划分选区的指导方针绘制了紧凑的选区。
该州必须在8月4日前提交对地图的辩护。三名法官计划在8月14日就此案举行听证会，因为围绕地图的斗争将重新回到联邦法院。
这一结果可能会在全国范围内产生影响，因为该案再次权衡了选举权法案在重新划分选区方面的要求。这还可能影响阿拉巴马州一个国会选区在2024年选举中的党派倾向，因为美国众议院的控制权岌岌可危。
前美国司法部长埃里克·霍尔德(Eric Holder)是全国民主重划委员会主席，他在一份声明中表示，阿拉巴马州的新地图是对法院的“公然蔑视”。
霍尔德在一份声明中说:“这个结果是一个可耻的表现，会让乔治·华莱士——另一个藐视法庭的阿拉巴马州州长——感到骄傲。”
Plaintiffs in voting rights case urge judges to toss Alabama's new congressional map
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, speaks to reporters on Friday, July 21, 2023, at the Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala. Ledbetter says he believes a newly drawn map of Alabama's seven congressional districts will pass muster with courts. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. --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 in the high-profile redistricting case filed a written objection Friday to oppose Alabama's new redistricting plan. They accused state Republicans of flouting a judicial mandate to create a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it" and enacting a map that continues to discriminate against Black voters in the state.
A special three-judge panel in 2022 blocked use of the the state's existing districts and said any new congressional map should include two districts where “Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority” or something close. That panel’s decision was appealed by the state but upheld in June in a surprise ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which concurred that having only one Black-majority district out of seven — in a state where more than one in four residents is Black — likely violated federal law.
The plaintiffs in the case, represented by the NAACP Legal Defense& Educational Fund and other groups, asked the three-judge panel to step in and draw new lines for the state.
“Alabama’s new congressional map ignores this court’s preliminary injunction order and instead perpetuates the Voting Rights Act violation that was the very reason that the Legislature redrew the map,” lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case wrote.
The new map enacted by the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature maintained one-majority Black district but boosted the percentage of Black voters in the majority-white 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore, from about 30% to 39.9%
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case wrote Friday that the revamped district “does not provide Black voters a realistic opportunity to elect their preferred candidates in any but the most extreme situations.” They accused state Republicans of ignoring the courts' directive to prioritize a district that would stay under GOP control "pleasing national leaders whose objective is to maintain the Republican Party’s slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Alabama has maintained the new plan complies with the Voting Rights Act, and state leaders are wagering that the panel will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals to the Supreme Court. Republicans argued that the map meets the court’s directive and draws compact districts that comply with redistricting guidelines.
The state must file its defense of the map by Aug. 4. The three judges have scheduled an Aug. 14 hearing in the case as the fight over the map shifts back to federal court.
The outcome could have consequences across the country as the case again weighs the requirements of the Voting Rights Act in redistricting. It could also impact the partisan leanings of one Alabama congressional district in the 2024 elections with control of the U.S House of Representatives at stake.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement that Alabama's new map is a “brazen defiance” of the courts.
“The result is a shameful display that would have made George Wallace—another Alabama governor who defied the courts—proud,” Holder said in a statement.
