U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco recently denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by progressive groups against the State of Alabama’s State Senate redistricting map.
Plaintiffs who challenged 33 different State House and Senate districts dropped challenges to all but two areas in December.
However, challenges to State Senate districts in Huntsville and Montgomery areas remained, and Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in late December.
Motion to Dismiss by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
Manasco denied the motion to dismiss on February 13 and allowed the lawsuit to continue. A bench trial is set for November 12 at the Hugo Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham.
Alabama Political News State Sen Redistricting by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
"We think the plaintiffs' remaining two claims also lack merit. I will continue to defend Alabama's laws and fight attempts to redraw our districts based on racial goals rather than common interests,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in December.
Plaintiffs' challenges focus on State Senate Districts 25 and 26 held by State Sens. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) and Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery), respectively. They also claim Huntsville area State Senate districts held by State Sens. Tom Butler (R-Madison), Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) and Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro) "unnecessarily cracks Black voters" between the districts.
"In Montgomery, it unnecessarily packs Black voters into State Senate District 26 in Montgomery while carving white residents out of the district and into District 25. The plan does so even though (1) Black voting-age citizens are sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a reasonably configured majority in an additional State Senate District in the Montgomery area; (2) the voting patterns of Black voters in the Montgomery area are politically cohesive; and (3) white voters in this region of Alabama vote sufficiently as a bloc typically to defeat the candidates preferred by Black voters," plaintiffs wrote in an amended complaint in December. "In the Huntsville region, SB 1 unnecessarily cracks Black voters in State Senate Districts 2, 7, and 8 in Huntsville, thereby preserving three districts where candidates preferred by white voters reliably win. The plan does so even though (1) Black voting-age citizens in the Huntsville area are sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a reasonably configured majority in a State Senate District; (2) the voting patterns of Black voters in the Huntsville area are politically cohesive; and (3) white voters in this region of Alabama vote sufficiently as a bloc typically to defeat the candidates preferred by Black voters."
The group of plaintiffs suing the State over its state senate district map is similar to the group suing the State of Alabama over its federal redistricting plans.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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