Rep. Terri Sewell Statement on Federal Court Blocking Alabama Congressional Map

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement after a federal court blocked Alabama’s new congressional map in favor of the creation of a second majority-minority district:

“Monumental news from the court! Increasing political representation of Black Alabamians is exactly what John Lewis and the Foot Soldiers who marched across the bridge in my hometown of Selma fought for. It is the reason why I am the lead sponsor of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and have led efforts to get it signed into law.

“I am carefully reviewing the opinion and I look forward to working with the Alabama Legislature to fulfill the court’s mandate.”

Federal judges block Alabama’s congressional redistricting maps that dilute the Black vote

The Alabama Legislature’s redistricting plan for 2022 will not take effect for congressional races after a panel of three federal court judges found the map dilutes the voting power of Black residents and blocked the proposal.

Two separate federal lawsuits were filed against the redistricting map on claims that it violated the Voting Rights Act by packing Black Alabamians into a small number of districts — including one congressional district, Alabama’s seventh, represented by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham — and limiting their influence on state elections.

Blacks comprise 27 percent of Alabama’s population yet only constitute one of the state’s seven congressional districts — or 14 percent of the districts. Alabama’s 7th Congressional District was first drawn in 1992.

The panel of three judges from federal courts in Alabama found that the plaintiffs are “substantially likely to establish” that the map violates the VRA, adding that “Black voters have less opportunity than other Alabamians to elect candidates of their choice to Congress.”

The Alabama Legislature has a variety of alternative redistricting maps they can consider, the judges noted, and said a new map “will need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”

The panel said it would provide the Legislature with an expert to redraw the lines if Montgomery can’t come up with another map in two weeks.

“We are confident that the Legislature can accomplish its task,” the judges said, pointing out that lawmakers came up with the blocked map “in a matter of days” last year.

“Black people drove a disproportionate share of Alabama’s population growth. Throughout last year, Black Alabamians publicly called on the Legislature to recognize this reality and sought equal representation in Congress,” said NAACP Legal Defense Fund Senior Counsel Deuel Ross in a statement. “The state ignored these demands, but we are deeply gratified that the unanimous court found that Black voters deserve full representation now. We look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure that Black voters are fairly represented in any remedial map.”

[SOURCE: MSN]

SPEAKER PELOSI TO JOIN MARTIN LUTHER KING III & FAMILY FOR MLK DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON VOTING RIGHTS

On Monday,  the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, as well as other elected officials and civil rights leaders at a press conference to discuss the critical need for action on voting rights legislation. The press conference comes as the Senate heads for a vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act on Tuesday. Mr. King and others will call on the Senate to do away with the filibuster in order to pass this bill.

The list of speakers includes:

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi  
• Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus 
• Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), United States Congress
• Martin Luther King III, Chairman of the Drum Major Institute
• Arndrea Waters King, President of the Drum Major Institute
• Yolanda Renee King, Director of Youth Programming for the Drum Major Institute and Granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
• Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network 
• DaMareo Cooper Co-Chair of the Center for Popular Democracy 
• Kelly Robinson, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Vice President of Advocacy and Organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation of America 
• Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino  
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers 
• Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association 
• Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation 
• LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter
• Rahna Epting, Executive Director of MoveOn
• Donald Cravins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Urban League
• Rev. Lis Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign 
• Ramón Cruz, President of Sierra Club 
• Stephanie Young, Executive Director of When We All Vote 
• Taifa Smith Butler, President of Demos
• Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of League of Women Voters 
• 
  

In the morning before the press conference, Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King and representatives from partner organizations will join the D.C. MLK Holiday Committee for their D.C. Peace Walk: Change Happens with Good Hope and a Dream. The King family will not be formally speaking at the Peace Walk; however, media is invited to capture footage and photos of the family crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

Democrats near a compromise on a federal voting rights bill

Rep. Terri Sewell discussed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and her belief that Democrats are near a deal on Jonathan Capehart's MSNBC show, The Sunday Show.

Watch that segment below.