Alabama Republicans defy SCOTUS

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Alabama Republicans rejected calls to draw a second majority-Black congressional district this week, instead creating maps that Democrats and advocates say completely ignore a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal court ordered the state to redraw its congressional map last year to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.” The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling this year, prompting the Legislature to call a special session to redraw the map this week.

But on Friday, the Republican-controlled Legislature is poised to pass a map with just one majority-Black seat. They're currently considering two drafts: The House map includes a second district that is 42% Black, while the Senate map includes a district that is 38% Black. Lawmakers are expected to meet Friday in conference committee to select one of those maps, or a compromise.

Neither would give Black voters a real shot at winning congressional seats, Democrats and advocates said in interviews and floor debates.

“It’s an opportunity to fail,” state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, said of the Senate plan.

The district lines are being closely watched by many in Washington, where redistricting battles playing out in the courts in Alabama, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and other states could decide control of Congress.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and much of the rest of Alabama's congressional delegation have reached out to Republican legislators, according to Republican state House Speaker Nathan Ledbetter.

Alluding to Tuberville’s past as the football coach at Auburn University, spokesman Steven Stafford said in an email: "Coach just wants the maps to be fair and for all Alabamians to be represented well. He trusts Alabama’s state legislators to get this right."

McCarthy reached out to plan sponsors and is concerned about maintaining his House majority, Ledbetter said, while Tuberville called Thursday morning and said he was surprised the Supreme Court had ruled against the state, given the court's conservative tilt.

"He was kind of surprised that we were in the situation," Ledbetter said. "There are a lot of eyes on Alabama."

Unbelievable. We can’t have a civilized society if people don’t follow the basic rules.