In the numerous mixed reactions after Gov. Kay Ivey announced the legislature would convene next week for a special session to address the state's long-contested congressional lines, several Democratic lawmakers made their displeasure abundantly clear.
Ivey announced the session after Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to lift injunctions blocking Alabama from using its 2023 congressional map, following the landmark SCOTUS decision on Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais, that declared racial gerrymandering unconstitutional.
After years of court battles, the state was placed under a court order prohibiting the use of new congressional maps until after the 2030 census. The map foisted on state lawmakers by a federally appointed special master arguably was responsible for the state's second congressional district flipping Democratic in 2024.
The Callais decision was met with nearly unanimous support from Republican lawmakers nationwide, while Democrats expressed the opposite sentiment. Both sides acknowledge that the ruling will almost certainly lead to more Republican-controlled congressional seats, and Alabama is no exception.
The Alabama House Democratic Caucus has yet to offer a public response to Ivey's announcement. However, some Democratic lawmakers are making their displeasure plain.
"This is an all out attack on the black community!" State Rep. Napoleon Bracy (D-Prichard) posted on Facebook.
State Sen. Merika Coleman (D-Pleasant Grove) also offered a terse condemnation of the special session before doing a nearly 45-minute Facebook live rant on the subject and other issues.
"WE ARE GOING INTO SPECIAL SESSION!" Coleman wrote on Facebook. "This is some bullshit, and I try not to curse on social media!!! How many more seats do the Alabama Republicans want?"
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) also released a statement, accusing Republican lawmakers of trying to bring back Jim Crow.
"This is a terrible day for the State of Alabama," Givan wrote. "It appears that Republicans won't be satisfied until they hold every elected local, state and federal office and take them by any means necessary. This special session is nothing more than an attempt to turn the clock back to the days of Jim Crow. If the Alabama Legislature moves forward in their effort to remove black members of the state's congressional delegation and make it impossible for any black Alabamian to get elected to Congress, then how long will it be before they reinstate the poll tax and literacy tests? I can only hope that members of the Alabama Legislature will take a long, hard look before they move forward with this and realize the damage it will cause."
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