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The Supreme Court rules in favor of Alabama Black voters.
The court's decision was unexpected given its recent trend of decisions weakening provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The decision upheld a ruling by a three-judge panel that Alabama's congressional maps unlawfully diluted the political power of its Black residents. The maps included only one congressional district with a majority of Black voters, despite African Americans making up more than a quarter of the state's population.
The ruling means that a second Democrat could be elected from the state, which currently has one Black Democrat and six White Republicans in its delegation.
Justice Clarence Thomas sharply rebuked the decision, arguing that the Voting Rights Act did not require the state to intentionally redraw its congressional districts so that Black voters could control several seats roughly proportional to the Black share of the state's population.
This decision is the first for current Supreme Court justices to consider how to apply the Voting Rights Act to districts drawn with racial representation in mind. The fight centers on the state's Black Belt, where many of the state's Black voters live.
Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Joe L. Reed, Vice-Chair of Minority Affairs, Alabama Democratic Party spoke with Roland Martin about this shocking decision from the Supreme Court.
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