SCOTUS ruling: Voting Rights Act rises from the ashes of Alabama GOP politics
Surprise, surprise, surprise! Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters in congressional redistricting case. Alabama GOP must be flabbergasted. They thought this MAGA-heavy SCOTUS would be frothing at the bit to put the Voting Rights Act out of their misery.
By a narrow 5-4 vote, do you reckon this scandal-ridden conservative court was shamed into doing what’s right? Not sure this SCOTUS could be shamed into anything, but we’ll take it. Democracy needed a win.
From Cody Short’s AL.com report:
The Supreme Courts’ surprise decision to rule in favor of Black Alabamians in the case of the congressional redistricting map has surprised many and sparked celebration across the nation.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who represents District 7, the lone Black district in the proposed map, said, “This is a historic victory, not only for Black voters in Alabama, but for Democracy itself.
Related: Supreme Court rules Alabama congressional map most likely violates Voting Rights Act – al.com
“With this decision, the Supreme Court is saying loudly and clearly that the voices of minority voters matter and that fair representation must be upheld. I know that John Lewis and the Foot Soldiers of the Voting Rights Movement are smiling as they look down on us. Today, their sacrifice was rewarded.”
“Today’s decision rejects efforts to further erode fundamental voting rights protections, and preserves the principle that in the United States, all eligible voters must be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote free from discrimination based on their race,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow.”
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who has spoken out against the proposed map, said, “The SCOTUS decision today is a powerful blow to racial gerrymandering in Alabama. The old map was a clear attempt to dilute the power of Black voters. We will not stand for silencing Black voices.”
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JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix.
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