Earlier this week, a few members of Team Sewell attended the hearing on the most recent Congressional map from the state — here’s a report back:

A quick recap: In 2021, this exact same court ruled that the state was in violation of Section 2 the Voting Rights Act because with only one majority Black district out of seven when more than ¼ of the residents of Alabama are Black gives Black voters less of an opportunity to elect their candidate of choice — and the Supreme Court agreed — ordering the state to create a second Black-majority district.

So what did the state do? They ignored the rulings and resubmitted a map that STILL does not have a second majority Black district.

The court’s response? After all three judges seemed to express frustration with the state legislature’s open defiance of their order to create a second Black-majority district, one of the federal judges finally came right out and asked Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour whether the state legislature deliberately disregarded the court when it passed a new congressional map!

Listen, there are no guarantees in any of this, but we’d say the questions from the judges this week give us hope that they will do the right thing and bring in a special master to draw the map.

And of course, we cannot forget that none of this should be necessary. The state legislature didn’t just shirk their responsibility to all Alabamians when they approved the proposed map — they are openly trying to suppress the Black vote so their friends in Washington can win future elections.

We expect a decision from the court early next week and will keep you updated along the way.

For our right to vote,

Team Sewell

P.S. This fight is far from over — we’re going to need to keep the pressure on to ensure we get fair maps before the November 2024 elections. Chip in $10 or any amount today to help re-elect Terri and keep her fighting for our right to vote>>