By Ivan Sanchez
Alabama has appealed the decision of the three-judge panel to the US Supreme Court. The state of Alabama requested a review from Justice Clarence Thomas, the current Supreme Court Justice overseeing the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where Alabama sits. The stay decision can be decided by Justice Thomas alone or referred to the entire court for decision.
Instead of complying with the decision from the district court or the Supreme Court, Alabama once again punted with new arguments. The state of Alabama seeks to have the remainder of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act gutted. In seeking a stay of the decision, the Alabama legislature in their application notes that “But just as this Court held that ‘race-based’ affirmative action in education “at some point” had to ‘end,’ Harvard, 143 S. Ct. at 2165-66, 2170-73 (majority), the same principle applies to affirmative action in districting… the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future.”
At the same time, race-based redistricting cases are being heard throughout the United States. Judge J. Lee Marsh of the Florida judiciary struck down Gov. Desantis’s redistricting plan regarding ex-Rep Al Lawson’s North Florida district. According to Marsh “By dismantling a congressional district that enabled Black voters to elect their candidates of choice under the previous plan, the Enacted Plan violates Article III, Section 20(a) of the Florida Constitution.” Much like what is occurring in Alabama, they are appealing to a markedly more conservative State Supreme Court to have this opinion overturned.
In 2010, Florida voters passed two amendments to the State Constitution collectively known as the “Fair Districting Amendments” to remove the ability for the state legislature to gerrymander the Florida congressional maps. These amendments passed with 63 percent of the vote in the state of Florida. Multiple other states have also passed fair districting amendments and laws to reduce the impact of political gerrymandering and have done so in both republican and democratic controlled states.
The fate of anti-Black gerrymandering in Florida and Alabama lies with the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. A decision on the stay application has been requested by the State of Alabama by October 1, 2023, so a decision is expected in that case soon.
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