Thread by @DemocracyDocket

🚨⚖️COURT ALERT: Federal lawsuits challenging Alabama's congressional map are headed to court this morning.

Here's what you need to know.👇🧵

AL has a long history of racial discrimination & gerrymandering in redistricting. Past maps have been drawn to "pack" Black voters into specific districts & "crack" Black communities elsewhere in the state, leading to Black Alabamians having less voting strength & representation.

The map drawn in 2021 continues to do the same. While Black residents make up over 25% of Alabama's population, only 1 of the 7 congressional districts is drawn to include a majority-Black population and the districts fail to represent Alabama's growing diversity.

So voters and advocacy groups sued, filing three lawsuits:

⚖️Singleton v. Merrill: democracydocket.com/cases/alabama-…
⚖️Caster v. Merrill: democracydocket.com/cases/alabama-…
⚖️Milligan v. Merrill: democracydocket.com/cases/alabama-…

SINGLETON:

PLAINTIFFS: AL voters
DEFENDANT: AL Sec. of State Merrill (R)
CLAIMS: The 2011 & 2021 congressional maps are racial gerrymanders (when race is used as the predominant factor in redistricting without any compelling interest) that violate the 14th & 15th Amendments.

CASTER:

PLAINTIFFS: AL voters
DEFENDANT: AL Sec. of State Merrill (R)
CLAIMS: The 2021 congressional map violates Section 2 of the VRA because it intentionally dilutes the voting strength of Black voters by creating 1 majority-Black district when a second one should be drawn.

MILLIGAN:

PLAINTIFFS: AL voters, Greater Birmingham Ministries & AL NAACP
DEFENDANT: AL Sec. of State Merrill (R)
CLAIMS: The new maps are racial gerrymanders in violation of the 14th Amendment and Black voters were packed into 1 district in violation of Section 2 of the VRA.

In summary, each case challenges Alabama’s new congressional map on the basis of race, but on different grounds: the Singleton plaintiffs bring racial gerrymandering constitutional claims; the Caster plaintiffs bring vote dilution VRA claims; the Milligan plaintiffs bring both.

All plaintiffs want the current map to be tossed and replaced with a new map that fairly represents Alabama’s Black population. The Caster and Milligan plaintiffs specifically ask for the creation of a second majority-Black congressional district in AL.

Today, a federal court will hear the plaintiffs' requests for a preliminary injunction (PI). If granted, the PI would prevent the new map passed by the Alabama Legislature from being used in 2022 congressional elections while litigation continues.

With Alabama's candidate filing deadline rapidly approaching (Jan. 28, 2022), we should expect a ruling on the requests for preliminary injunction soon.

If you would like to stream today’s court proceedings, you can request login credentials here👇alnd.uscourts.gov/instructions-v…

Make sure to have the following information on hand:

NAME: Singleton v. Merrill
DATE: 1/4/2021
TIME: 9:00 AM CST
CASE #: N.D. Ala. 2:21-cv-1291

We'll keep you updated on any major developments.

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