Alabama Legislature reckons with ruling striking down state congressional map

Alabama legislators were trying to come to grips Tuesday with a federal court decision that struck down new congressional maps as unconstitutional.

With an appeal coming, a special session in swing and a regular session waiting to resume, leaders said they were in the early, speak-to-the-attorneys phase of the process.

"We're meeting with legal, and we're finding out what our options are," said House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia. "And at this point, we don't know. We've just got to wait and see."

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A three-judge federal panel Monday blocked Alabama's congressional map from taking effect, saying it gave Black Alabamians "less opportunity than other Alabamians to elect candidates of their choice to Congress" in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

The three judges — U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, and U.S. District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer, both appointed by former President Donald Trump — said the appropriate remedy for the map would be a second majority-Black congressional district or "something quite close to it."

The Alabama Attorney General's Office said in a statement Monday it would appeal the decision.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved new congressional, legislative and State Board of Education maps in November during a special session. The new maps made few changes to existing ones and would be likely to preserve Republican dominance in state government without extending it.

Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, who led the House side of redistricting efforts, said he was surprised by the court's ruling.

"We're just meeting with the lawyers trying to figure out where we are," he said. (Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, who handled the Senate side of redistricting, declined comment Tuesday.)

Democrats sued to block the maps, arguing that they amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. The majority-minority 7th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, has been in place since 1992, but plaintiffs said it prevented Black voters who live outside the district from being able to elect candidates of their choice, due to the racially polarized nature of Alabama's voting. They argued that the state should create a second majority-Black congressional district or one with a substantial Black population.

"A state that's approximately 40% Democrat with only one (Democratic) representative out of seven, I mean that speaks for itself," said House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville.

Republicans said the maps conformed with the Voting Rights Act and that they could not draw a second majority-minority district without breaking up other communities of interest and violating their own guidelines.

Should the ruling stand, legislators will have to redraw at least one of the maps, either in the regular session that is to resume next week or in a special session. The court suggested Monday that it could redraw the maps if the Legislature could not come up with an agreement.

"The question is, do we want to be in control of drawing it, or whether or not to punt to draw something that we may all not want?" said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "I believe in this process, and think we can get through this process."

The decision pushed back the deadline for qualifying for congressional candidates from Jan. 28 to Feb. 11.

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The case is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has taken a narrow view of the Voting Rights Act in recent years. McCutcheon said the Legislature would conform with anything the courts decided.

"It wasn't a surprise," the speaker said. "You just never know."

Daniels said he hoped the decision would spur the U.S. Senate to pass voting rights legislation, but he also expected the battle to continue.

"We understand this is just the first step, and there are other steps associated with this," he said. "And we look forward to addressing those, hopefully, in the Legislature."

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com. Updated at 4:35 p.m. with comments from the Senate.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama Legislature reckon with ruling striking down congressional map