Did Georgia Racists Draw A Racist Congressional Map On Purpose? Trial Starts Today

Alabama Map Struck Down, New Map Being Drawn By Special Master

Early this morning, a panel of 3 federal judges ruled that Alabama’s congressional map is racist. They ordered a cartographer and special master appointed by the court to draw a new map. “Based on the evidence before us, including testimony from the Legislators, we have no reason to believe that allowing the Legislature still another opportunity to draw yet another map will yield a map that includes an additional opportunity district,” the court said in its order. “Moreover, counsel for the State has informed the Court that, even if the Court were to grant the Legislature yet another opportunity to draw a map, it would be practically impossible for the Legislature to reconvene and do so in advance of the 2024 election cycle. Accordingly, the Special Master and cartographer are DIRECTED to commence work forthwith on a remedial map.”

A trial began today to determine whether the racist Georgia legislature drew racist legislative and congressional maps with the intention of illegally weakening Black voters’ political power. Or was that just a coincidence? There’s no jury and U.S. District Judge Steve Jones will be presiding. He knows the 3 combined cases well.

A year and a half ago, Jones ruled that there was some illegal racism built into the Georgia maps. But he felt it was too late to draw new maps and he allowed them to be used in the 2022 election. Jeff Amy reported yesterday that “Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist who studies redistricting, said he expects Jones to side with the plaintiffs. ‘He found the plaintiffs had proven the elements of a Section 2 violation at that point,’ Bullock said of the earlier ruling.”

After serving as a state judge, Jones was nominated for the federal bench by Obama and was confirmed 90-0 by the Senate early in 2011. This case is expected to take 2 weeks.

The plaintiffs challenging the districts argue there is room to draw another Black-majority congressional seat on the west side of metro Atlanta, as well as three more majority-Black state Senate districts and five additional majority-Black state house districts in various parts of the state. They point to Georgia’s addition of a half million Black residents from 2010 to 2020, nearly half of all population growth.

“Despite these striking demographic changes, the enacted congressional plan fails to reflect the growth in Georgia’s Black population,” the plaintiffs challenging Georgia’s congressional map wrote in a summary of their case filed with the court.

The state, though, argues the plaintiffs haven’t proved voters act the way they do because of race, arguing partisanship is a stronger motivator.

…Republicans held an 8-6 majority in Georgia’s U.S. House delegation in 2020, but majority-GOP state lawmakers redrew lines to eliminate one of those Democratic seats, boosting their majority to 9-5. If the plaintiffs win, the balance could revert to 8-6 Republicans. However, lawmakers also could try to convert McBath’s current seat into a majority Black seat.

The GOP currently holds a 102-78 majority in the state House and a 33-23 majority in the state Senate. While a plaintiff’s victory is unlikely to flip control in either chamber, additional Black-majority districts in the Senate and House could elect Democrats who would narrow Republican margins.

Aside from Alabama and Georgia, cases under consideration as violations of the Voting Rights Act and other anti-racism laws are going through the courts in Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida and Texas.