On Monday, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Brandaun Dean told 1819 News that Alabama's Black voters who expected to gain a congressional district were “robbed” by Monday’s surprise Supreme Court decision which stayed a ruling by a lower court three-judge panel ordering the state of Alabama to redraw congressional districts with two majority Black districts.
“The U.S. Supreme Court split 5-4 with Chief Justice Roberts siding with Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer in two separate dissents,” Dean said. “Alabama Black voters were expected to gain a congressional district ahead of the 2022 elections. They [have] now been robbed of this authority by the three Trump court appointees, Sam Alito, and Clarence Thomas.
“This is an extraordinary assault on Black legislative representation. The court has undermined the necessary expedience of the democratic process and the sparingly used emergency docket.
“There is no doubt that justices acted in bad faith to overturn the lower court ruling. Coney-Barrett, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas are voter suppression advocates and have acted as judicial activists to exclude Black citizens from the priority of equitable representation in the people’s house.”
Dean said that Kagan wrote in her dissent, “As to the equities, Alabama does not—because it cannot—contend that redrawing its map in advance of this year’s elections would be impossible. The state’s legislature enacted its current plan in less than a week.”
Brandaun Dean is the former Mayor of Brighton.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) responded with her own statement expressing disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court decision to halt a lower court order requiring Alabama to redraw its congressional map to create a second majority-minority district.
“Today’s Supreme Court order is yet another blow to the fight for fair Black political representation that is at the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA),” Sewell said. “The ruling allows the votes of Black Alabamians to be diluted and further undermines Section 2 of the VRA.
“This order underscores the urgent need for Congress to enact my bill—the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act—which would restore much-needed federal oversight to ensure that minority voters are fairly represented. Black Alabamians deserve nothing less."
The court-appointed special master was supposed to draw up new court-ordered congressional maps with two majority-minority districts on Tuesday. The stay by the Supreme Court means that will not happen and the state will proceed into the election with the districts as drawn by the Alabama Legislature.
Will Boyd, Brandaun Dean, Lanny Jackson, and Victor Keith Williams are running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Incumbent Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) is not seeking re-election.
The Democratic primary will be on May 24.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com.
