Sewell responds to latest congressional map decision from U.S. Supreme Court

Rep. Terri Sewell has released another statement after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Alabama to move forward with congressionally redrawn maps, calling it "discriminatory". 

She said in the following: 

"Once again, the right-wing Supreme Court has put its blatant partisanship on full display, allowing Alabama Republicans to change the rules in the eleventh hour and use a racist congressional map that federal courts have found—on two separate occasions—intentionally discriminates against Black Alabama voters. This is just the latest in a pattern of outrageous Supreme Court decisions that help Republicans desperately cling to power ahead of the midterm elections while diluting Black voices and erasing decades of hard-fought civil rights progress.

"Black voters in Alabama deserve more than just some representation. We deserve fair representation. That means two congressional seats where African Americans have the opportunity to elect candidates of our choice.

"Make no mistake. It is the people of Alabama—not the Supreme Court—who will have the last word. Now that the congressional map has been set, it is up to Alabama voters to vote like we’ve never voted before and send a message that cannot be ignored—that all voices deserve to be heard in our democracy.

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"No matter how hard Alabama state officials may try, they will not succeed in silencing our voices. We will not go back to the Jim Crow era. The fight for fair representation continues."

Other officials have supported the move by the Supreme Court, including Attorney General Steve Marshall who is running for the Senate as a republican. 

“Tonight’s decision is a major victory for Alabama and for the principle of self-governance," he said in his own statement. "The United States Supreme Court confirmed what we always knew: that Alabama’s Congressional maps are constitutional and lawful under the Voting Rights Act."

"The Court’s decision to stay the district court’s injunction affirms that Alabama’s elected representatives, not federal judges, have the primary authority to draw the maps under which Alabamians choose their own leaders.