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'''''Allen, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. v. Milligan et al.''''' is a suit heard in the [[List of U.S. Supreme Court cases|U.S. Supreme Court]] challenging the [[Alabama State Legislature]]'s [[2021 Alabama legislative session#Redistricting|reapportionment]] of [[Congressional districts]] in [[Alabama]] following the [[2020 U.S. Census]].
'''''Allen, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. v. Milligan et al.''''' is a suit heard in the [[List of U.S. Supreme Court cases|U.S. Supreme Court]] challenging the [[Alabama State Legislature]]'s [[2021 Alabama legislative session#Redistricting|reapportionment]] of [[Congressional districts]] in [[Alabama]] following the [[2020 U.S. Census]].


The initial lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Courts by three separate groups of plaintiffs, each seeking an order enjoining then [[Alabama Secretary of State]] [[John Merrill]] from conducting elections using the legislature's 2021 map. These suits were filed as:
The existing Congressional district map, using data from the [[2010 U.S. Census]], had been passed as [[Act of Alabama 2011-518]] during the [[2011 Alabama legislative session]] and placed in the [[Alabama State Code]] as Section 17-14-70. As the next census approached, that map was already the subject of legal challenges based on Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] (VRA) and the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In ''[[Chestnut v. Merrill]]'', brought on [[June 13]], [[2018]], it was established that the extended "finger" of the [[7th Congressional District of Alabama]] was created to exclude Black voters in [[Jefferson County]] from other, predominantly white districts. Because the state legislature was to redraw the district map prior to the next election, Judge [[Karon Bowdre]] ruled on [[March 17]], [[2020]] that the case was moot.
* '''''Singleton v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al.''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1291) was filed on [[November 16]], [[2021]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama]] by Bobby Singleton, [[Rodger Smitherman]], Eddie Billingsley, Leonette W. Slay, Darryl Andrews, and Andrew Walker. The plaintiffs contended that the districts as drawn violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Judge [[Anna Manasco]] was assigned the case.
 
* '''''Marcus Caster, et al. v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al.''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1536) was filed on [[November 16]], [[2021]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama]] by Marcus Caster, Lakeisha Chestnut, Bobby Lee Dubose, Benjamin Jones, Rodney Allen Love, Manasseh Powell, Ronald Smith, and Wendell Thomas. The plaintiffs contended that the districts as drawn violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. Judge [[Anna Manasco]] was assigned the case. She ruled on [[January 22]], [[2023]] that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail, and ordered the legislature to pass a new plan within 14 days that included an additional district in which Black voters would have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
Another suit, '''''Bobby Singleton, et al. v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1291), was filed on [[September 27]], [[2021]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama]] by [[Bobby Singleton]], [[Rodger Smitherman]], Eddie Billingsley, Leonette W. Slay, Darryl Andrews, and Andrew Walker. The plaintiffs noted that an upcoming special session would consider reapportionment and sought an order recognizing that maps that preserved the conditions which made the 2011 map non-compliant would also be non-compliant. They sought the court's support for an alternate "whole county" plan which they argued would comply with the VRA while also restoring the longstanding practice of not splitting counties between districts.
* '''''Milligan v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al.''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1530-AMM)
 
==2021 redistricting==
[[Governor of Alabama|Governor]] [[Kay Ivey]] called for a second special legislative session to begin on [[October 28]], [[2021]] to modify the state's voting districts. The legislature's Reapportionment Committee began meeting on [[October 26]] to consider new Congressional district lines, as well as state House and Senate districts, and [[Alabama State Board of Education]] districts. As a result of that session, the Republican majority adopted a new district map, referred to in legislation as "Pringle Congressional Plan 1," that largely retained the conditions which had already been challenged in federal courts. Governor Ivey signed the map into law, as [[Act of Alabama 2021-555]], on [[November 4]].
 
Following the law's passage, two more lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court on [[November 16]] by separate groups of plaintiffs, each seeking orders enjoining then [[Alabama Secretary of State]] [[John Merrill]] from conducting elections using that map. These suits were filed as:
 
* '''''Marcus Caster, et al. v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al.''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1536) was filed by Marcus Caster, Lakeisha Chestnut, Bobby Lee Dubose, Benjamin Jones, Rodney Allen Love, Manasseh Powell, Ronald Smith, and Wendell Thomas. The plaintiffs contended that the new districts as drawn violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. Judge [[Anna Manasco]] was assigned the case. She ruled on [[January 22]], [[2023]] that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail, and ordered the legislature to pass a new plan within 14 days that included an additional district in which Black voters would have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
* '''''Evan Milligan v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al.''''' (No. 2:21-cv-1530) was filed by Evan Milligan, Shalela Dowdy, Letetia Jackson, Khadidah Stone, Adia Winfrey, [[Greater Birmingham Ministries]], and the [[Alabama State Conference of the NAACP]]. In addition to the Attorney General, the suit named [[Jim McClendon]] and [[Chris Pringle]], co-chairs of the Alabama Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment, as defendants.
 
==2022 arguments==
<!--In January [[2022]] a panel of three federal judges heard arguments in ''[[Allen v. Milligan|Singleton v. Merrill]]'' and ''[[Allen v. Milligan|Milligan v. Merrill]]'' that the Congressional map which was passed violated 14th Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
 
They ruled that the state legislature would need to adopt a map which achieved fairer representation within two weeks, or accept a map drawn by a court-appointed expert. Former deputy [[Attorney General of Alabama]] [[Richard Allen]] was appointed by the court to serve as special master.
 
Attorney General [[Steve Marshall]] appealed the ruling. On [[February 7]] the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the lower court's order pending its review of the appeal, thus allowing the [[2022 general election|2022 election]] to be conducted using the unlawful districts. The Court heard arguments on [[October 22]], 2022. On [[June 8]], [[2023]] the Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and lifted their stay, returning the matter to the three-judge panel to issue further orders.-->
 
<!--On [[June 8]], [[2023]] the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Allen v. Milligan]]'' to affirm a decision issued by a three-judge panel in January [[2022]] that Alabama's congressional district map, drawn in [[2021 Alabama legislative session#Redistricting|November 2021]] with data from the 2020 U.S. Census, unlikely to comply with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court thereby lifted their earlier stay of the ruling and returned the matter to the panel to issue further orders.
 
That panel set a [[July 21]] deadline for the state to adopt a compliant districting plan for the [[2024 general election]].-->
 
==2023 redistricting==
Governor Ivey called another special session to begin on [[July 17]], [[2023]] for the legislature to adopt a new map.
 
The legislature's Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment, co-chaired by Representative [[Chris Pringle]] (R-District 101) and Senator [[Steve Livingston]] (R-District 8), held a public hearing on [[July 13]] and subsequently voted 14-6 in the Senate and 74-27 in the House, both along party lines, to adopt versions of a "Communities of Interest Plan" which kept District 7 as the only majority-Black district. The two versions were reconciled in a conference committee and the result passed both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Ivey on Friday, [[July 21]].
 
==2023 court order==
The 3-judge panel that found the 2021 map unconstitutional held a hearing on [[August 14]] to determine if the state's revisions complied with their order.
 
On [[September 25]] Special Master Allen submitted three "Remedial Plans", prepared with technical assistance from David Ely's Compass Demographics of San Gabriel, California, who was approved by both parties. The new maps were designed to meet the court's instruction that the the map should remedy the state's violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by creating a second district in which Black voters had an opportunity to elect a representative, while maintaining districts with equal populations, and in compliance with all other Constitutional and legal requirements.
 
On [[September 26]], [[2023]] the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to hear Alabama's emergency application to delay the District Court's remedy.
 
The parties re-convened before judges Marcus, Manasco, and Moorer on [[October 3]] to present any objections. The 3-judge panel ordered the adoption of the Special Master's "[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302.296.3.pdf Proposed Remedial Plan #3]", which had the fewest objections from the plaintiffs, for the [[2024]] election cycle. That plan kept Henry County with other wiregrass counties in District 1, and kept larger portions of Birmingham and Mobile within single districts compared to the other proposals.
 
Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that his office would comply with the court's order, and Attorney General Steve Marshall dropped the state's "interlocutory appeal" to the Supreme Court.
 
==References==
* Yurkanin, Any (September 28, 2021) "Lawsuit challenges Alabama Congressional districts as diluting the Black vote." {{BN}}
* Cason, Mike (October 15, 2021) "Racial makeup of congressional districts will be issue in Alabama special session." {{BN}}
* Cason, Mike (November 4, 2021) "Gov. Kay Ivey signs bills for Alabama’s new congressional, legislative districts." {{BN}}
* Koplowitz, Howard (January 24, 2022) "Alabama’s congressional redistricting maps blocked: Federal judges seek more Black majority districts." {{BN}}
* Cason, Mike (June 10, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/06/could-new-congressional-map-cost-democrats-their-only-alabama-seat.html Could new congressional map cost Democrats their only Alabama seat]?" {{AL}}
* Lyman, Brian (June 12, 2023) "[https://alabamareflector.com/briefs/federal-court-calls-friday-meeting-over-alabama-congressional-maps/ Federal court calls Friday meeting over Alabama congressional maps]" ''[[Alabama Reflector]]''
* Lyman, Brian (June 19, 2023) "[https://alabamareflector.com/2023/06/19/the-cruelty-the-decency-and-the-unfinished-work-of-the-2023-alabama-legislature/ The cruelty, the decency, and the unfinished work of the 2023 Alabama Legislature]". ''[[Alabama Reflector]]''
* Cason, Mike (June 20, 2023) "Federal court agrees to give Alabama Legislature until July 21 to draw new congressional map." {{AL}}
* Cason, Mike (July 17, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/07/congressional-map-with-1-majority-black-district-favored-by-gop-leaders.html Congressional map with 1 majority Black district favored by GOP]." {{AL}}
* Stettheimer, Samuel (July 18, 2023) "[https://www.alreporter.com/2023/07/18/reapportionment-committee-forces-through-pringle-plan/ Reapportionment committee forces through Pringle plan]." ''[[Alabama Political Reporter]]''
* Cason, Mike (July 20, 2023) "Alabama Republicans differ on new congressional map on eve of court deadline." {{AL}}
* Timm, Jane C. (July 21, 2023) "[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/alabama-gop-refuses-draw-second-black-district-supreme-court-order-rcna94715 Alabama Republicans refuse to draw a second Black congressional district in defiance of Supreme Court]." NBCNews.com
* Cason, Mike (September 5, 2023) "Who are court-appointed officials assigned to draw Alabama’s congressional map?" {{AL}}
* Thornton, William (September 8, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/alabama-gop-reportedly-looks-to-brett-kavanaugh-in-redistricting-john-roberts-may-stand-in-the-way.html Alabama GOP reportedly looks to Brett Kavanaugh in redistricting: John Roberts may stand in the way]." {{AL}}
* Britt, Bill (September 18, 2023) "[https://www.alreporter.com/2023/09/16/dark-money-the-backstory-of-alabamas-redistricting-defiance/ Dark money: The backstory of Alabama’s redistricting defiance]." ''Alabama Political Reporter''
* Cason, Mike (September 25, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/court-ordered-alabama-congressional-maps-add-2nd-opportunity-district-for-black-voters.html Court-ordered Alabama congressional maps add 2nd opportunity district for Black voters]." {{AL}}
* Cason, Mike (September 26, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/us-supreme-court-refuses-alabamas-request-to-use-gop-drawn-congressional-district-map.html US Supreme Court refuses Alabama’s request to use GOP-drawn congressional district map]." {{AL}}
* Cason, Mike (September 27, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/what-happens-next-after-supreme-court-decision-on-alabama-congressional-districts.html What happens next after Supreme Court decision on Alabama congressional districts]?" {{AL}}
 
==External links==
* [https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/reapportionment-2023-proposed 2023 Proposed Redistricting] maps at alison.legislature.state.al.us
* [https://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L0773908.AI1.pdf Act of Alabama 2021-555] at arc-sos.state.al.us


[[Category:U.S. Supreme Court Cases]]
[[Category:U.S. Supreme Court Cases]]

Latest revision as of 16:43, 22 October 2023

Allen, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. v. Milligan et al. is a suit heard in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the Alabama State Legislature's reapportionment of Congressional districts in Alabama following the 2020 U.S. Census.

The existing Congressional district map, using data from the 2010 U.S. Census, had been passed as Act of Alabama 2011-518 during the 2011 Alabama legislative session and placed in the Alabama State Code as Section 17-14-70. As the next census approached, that map was already the subject of legal challenges based on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) and the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Chestnut v. Merrill, brought on June 13, 2018, it was established that the extended "finger" of the 7th Congressional District of Alabama was created to exclude Black voters in Jefferson County from other, predominantly white districts. Because the state legislature was to redraw the district map prior to the next election, Judge Karon Bowdre ruled on March 17, 2020 that the case was moot.

Another suit, Bobby Singleton, et al. v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State (No. 2:21-cv-1291), was filed on September 27, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by Bobby Singleton, Rodger Smitherman, Eddie Billingsley, Leonette W. Slay, Darryl Andrews, and Andrew Walker. The plaintiffs noted that an upcoming special session would consider reapportionment and sought an order recognizing that maps that preserved the conditions which made the 2011 map non-compliant would also be non-compliant. They sought the court's support for an alternate "whole county" plan which they argued would comply with the VRA while also restoring the longstanding practice of not splitting counties between districts.

2021 redistricting

Governor Kay Ivey called for a second special legislative session to begin on October 28, 2021 to modify the state's voting districts. The legislature's Reapportionment Committee began meeting on October 26 to consider new Congressional district lines, as well as state House and Senate districts, and Alabama State Board of Education districts. As a result of that session, the Republican majority adopted a new district map, referred to in legislation as "Pringle Congressional Plan 1," that largely retained the conditions which had already been challenged in federal courts. Governor Ivey signed the map into law, as Act of Alabama 2021-555, on November 4.

Following the law's passage, two more lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court on November 16 by separate groups of plaintiffs, each seeking orders enjoining then Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill from conducting elections using that map. These suits were filed as:

  • Marcus Caster, et al. v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. (No. 2:21-cv-1536) was filed by Marcus Caster, Lakeisha Chestnut, Bobby Lee Dubose, Benjamin Jones, Rodney Allen Love, Manasseh Powell, Ronald Smith, and Wendell Thomas. The plaintiffs contended that the new districts as drawn violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Judge Anna Manasco was assigned the case. She ruled on January 22, 2023 that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail, and ordered the legislature to pass a new plan within 14 days that included an additional district in which Black voters would have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
  • Evan Milligan v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. (No. 2:21-cv-1530) was filed by Evan Milligan, Shalela Dowdy, Letetia Jackson, Khadidah Stone, Adia Winfrey, Greater Birmingham Ministries, and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. In addition to the Attorney General, the suit named Jim McClendon and Chris Pringle, co-chairs of the Alabama Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment, as defendants.

2022 arguments

2023 redistricting

Governor Ivey called another special session to begin on July 17, 2023 for the legislature to adopt a new map.

The legislature's Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment, co-chaired by Representative Chris Pringle (R-District 101) and Senator Steve Livingston (R-District 8), held a public hearing on July 13 and subsequently voted 14-6 in the Senate and 74-27 in the House, both along party lines, to adopt versions of a "Communities of Interest Plan" which kept District 7 as the only majority-Black district. The two versions were reconciled in a conference committee and the result passed both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Ivey on Friday, July 21.

2023 court order

The 3-judge panel that found the 2021 map unconstitutional held a hearing on August 14 to determine if the state's revisions complied with their order.

On September 25 Special Master Allen submitted three "Remedial Plans", prepared with technical assistance from David Ely's Compass Demographics of San Gabriel, California, who was approved by both parties. The new maps were designed to meet the court's instruction that the the map should remedy the state's violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by creating a second district in which Black voters had an opportunity to elect a representative, while maintaining districts with equal populations, and in compliance with all other Constitutional and legal requirements.

On September 26, 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to hear Alabama's emergency application to delay the District Court's remedy.

The parties re-convened before judges Marcus, Manasco, and Moorer on October 3 to present any objections. The 3-judge panel ordered the adoption of the Special Master's "Proposed Remedial Plan #3", which had the fewest objections from the plaintiffs, for the 2024 election cycle. That plan kept Henry County with other wiregrass counties in District 1, and kept larger portions of Birmingham and Mobile within single districts compared to the other proposals.

Secretary of State Wes Allen announced that his office would comply with the court's order, and Attorney General Steve Marshall dropped the state's "interlocutory appeal" to the Supreme Court.

References

External links

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