High Stakes in High Court: Justices hear case that could allow states
to further dilute minority voting power

[link removed]

Sabrina Khan, SPLC Voting Rights Senior Supervising Attorney | Read
the full piece here

[link removed]

Friend,

On Oct. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v.
Milligan

[link removed]

, a case that could reshape the ability of voters of color to choose
who represents them in Congress and other state and local legislative
bodies.

At issue in Merrill is whether Alabama's 2021 congressional
redistricting plan dilutes the votes of its Black population in
violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Section 2
prohibits states and localities from drawing or maintaining districts
that have a discriminatory effect no matter the underlying intent of
map drawers. This requires states to redraw maps that deny voters of
color an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and
to elect candidates of their choice.

Alabama holds seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under
its current map, the Legislature used a gerrymandering technique
calling "cracking" in the state's Black Belt, a
region known for its fertile, black soil and where Black people
comprise a majority of the population. The map drawers dispersed
residents in such a way that Black voters have the opportunity to
elect candidates of their choice in only one of the state's
districts, despite comprising roughly 27% of the state's voting
age population.

In January, a three-judge district court panel - two of whom
were Trump appointees - found that Alabama's map was
substantially likely to violate Section 2. Meticulously applying the
three-prong test from the seminal vote dilution case Thornburg v.
Gingles
[link removed]

, the district court found that: (1) the Black voting age population
was sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to constitute a
majority in a second reasonably sized voting district; (2) Black
Alabamians vote in a politically cohesive way; and (3) white voters
vote sufficiently as a bloc to defeat Black voters' preferred
candidates.

As with all racial gerrymandering cases, after passing the Gingles
threshold, the district court examined the totality of the
circumstances. Factors the U.S. Senate enumerated in 1982, such as the
history of voting discrimination, help inform this analysis. As a
result, the district court panel ordered the Alabama Legislature to
create a second Black opportunity district in time for the 2022
midterm election. However, Alabama appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which decided to hear the case and stayed the decision. This means
Alabama's current map of congressional districts will remain in
place through the midterm elections.

Chipping away at rights

So what did the oral arguments in the Supreme Court reveal?

The good news is the court appears slated to reject Alabama's
most radical arguments and maintain that Section 2 does not turn on
proving discriminatory intent. At the outset, Justice Elena Kagan
stated that under a typical Section 2 analysis, this case should be
"a slam dunk" given the state's stark history of
discrimination and racially polarized voting. She also clarified that
finding in favor of Alabama would be a significant departure from the
court's decades-long approach to Section 2.

Regardless, the bench's conservative supermajority is poised to
rule in favor of Alabama.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett summarized one of Alabama's key
contentions: that it is caught in the so-called tension between the
equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment - which Alabama
asserts requires race neutrality - and the Voting Rights Act,
which requires taking race into account when drawing districts.

READ MORE

[link removed]

In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond,
working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.

Friend, will you make a gift to help the SPLC fight for
justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy?

DONATE

[link removed]



--
Unsubscribe [link removed] | Privacy Policy [link removed] | Contact Us [link removed]

Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104
334.956.8200 // splcenter.org
[link removed]
Copyright 2022