During a Wednesday episode of "Alabama's Morning News with JT," Republican candidate for attorney general Katherine Robertson criticized a federal appeals court's recent ruling blocking a 6-1 conservative congressional map passed by Alabama legislators in 2023.
"This is a three-judge panel that has been nothing short of hostile to our state and our arguments and our maps for the last couple of years, so I don't think anybody in my office was surprised by this outcome," explained Robertson. "I think the silver lining to it is that we needed them to rule quickly. If they were going to rule against us, we needed it to happen quickly, because the biggest challenge here is really not the legal argument, it's the timing."
According to Robertson, the verdict demonstrates the panel's defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court and also contributes to a years-long alleged "grudge" held against Alabama by the appeals court.
"We are going to be on file with the United States Supreme Court this morning, seeking relief. You may remember just a few weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court said, 'Hey, panel, reconsider your decision for Alabama under this new standard of Callais," Robertson outlined. "I don't think the Supreme Court meant for them to reach the same conclusion that they did pre-Callais, and so at this point, it feels a little defiant."
She added, "It feels like they're holding a grudge against us, and so we're going to ask the Supreme Court for relief. We're asking for relief quickly, and if we get it, that six-one map will go back into place, the map of the legislature passed in 2021."
Robertson addressed the desire of many Republican voters to immediately transition the state's congressional map to a 7-0 conservative-dominated layout.
"I do want to point out, we are now past the debate of whether we should have a 7-0 map. The 6-1 map is the only map that's on the table for us to defend, so that's the map the legislature passed a few years ago. The court imposed a 5-2 map, so the best relief we can get right now is to revert to the 6-1 map," added Robertson.
On Wednesday morning, following the panel's ruling, Alabama requested that the U.S. Supreme Court restore a congressional map drawn by the state legislature for the 2026 elections. The request will go to Justice Clarence Thomas first.
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