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Federal Judges Again Strike Down Virginia Redistricting Plan

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Early Voting Florida

Larry O’Dell and Alan Suderman, ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal court on Friday concluded for the second time that Virginia’s congressional boundaries are unconstitutional because state lawmakers packed black voters into one district in order to make adjacent districts safer for Republican incumbents.

In a 2-1 ruling, a judicial panel ordered the General Assembly to draw new boundaries by Sept. 1 to correct the flawed 2012 redistricting plan. The court first struck down the plan in October, but the U.S. Supreme Court ordered reconsideration in light of a ruling in an Alabama redistricting case.

The judges in Virginia again ruled that race was the predominant factor — not just one of many considerations — in crafting the plan, thus violating the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“The legislative record here is replete with statements indicating that race was the legislature’s paramount concern,” Judge Allyson Duncan of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the majority opinion.

The Virginia case is part of a larger effort by Democrats to challenge congressional districts throughout the country. Strong Republican state-level gains in the 2010 election cycle gave the GOP increased power during once-in-a-decade congressional redistricting. Democrats have alleged in lawsuits in other states, including North Carolina, Florida and Alabama, that Republicans have drawn racially gerrymandered districts.

Marc Elias, an attorney for the National Democratic Redistricting Trust who represented the Virginia plaintiffs, said he is pleased with Friday’s ruling and would oppose any efforts by Republicans to delay the Sept 1. deadline for drawing new districts.

“The people of Virginia have lived under an unconstitutional map now for two congressional cycles,” he said. “The legislature should do its job and pass a constitutional map.”

Elias also represents several prominent Virginia politicians and is general counsel to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Republican Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell said the “defendants should have the opportunity to fully litigate this case. In light of today’s decision, we are evaluating the next steps.”

A lawyer for the Republican congressmen who are defendants in the case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit focused on the 3rd Congressional District, which has had a black majority since 1991. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, the state’s only black congressman, has represented the district since 1993 and has never faced a serious challenge. Scott, who was unopposed in last November’s election, is one of only three Democrats in Virginia’s 11-member congressional delegation.

The plan approved by the Republican-controlled legislature increased the 3rd District’s black voting-age population from 53.1 percent to 56.3 percent. The result was an oddly shaped district composed of “a disparate chain of communities, predominantly African-American, loosely connected by the James River,” Duncan wrote.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs claimed legislators could have shifted a large number of black voters from Scott’s district into a neighboring Republican district without substantially diluting black voting strength in the 3rd. During the mapmaking process, Republicans rejected an alternative plan that would have created a second black-majority district.

U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady joined in the majority opinion.

In a dissenting opinion, U.S. District Judge Robert Payne reasserted his previous position that race was just one of many factors legislators considered.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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