Fuzzy dice finally will be free to dangle in Illinois.
Starting Monday, police there no longer will be allowed to pull over motorists solely because they have something hanging from the rearview mirror of the windshield. That means air fresheners, parking placards and, yes, even those dice are fair game to hang.
The revised Illinois windshield rule is one of hundreds of new laws taking effect with the new year in states across the U.S. While some may seem a bit pedestrian, others have real practical effects or touch on controversial issues such as restrictions on weapons and medical treatments for transgender people.
Though the original Illinois windshield law was meant to improve roadway safety, it came to be seen by some as an excuse for pulling over drivers. The new law still prohibits objects that obstruct a driver’s view but forbids law enforcement officers from conducting stops or searches solely because of suspected violations.
“With this new law, we are sending a powerful message that the state does not tolerate racial profiling or other forms of discrimination,” said Democratic state Sen. Christopher Belt, one of the bill’s sponsors.
Another new Illinois law seeks to stifle a more modern form of distracted driving by prohibiting people from participating in video conferences or scanning social media while behind the wheel.
Regulating guns and online activity
A Minnesota law will allow authorities to ask courts for extreme risk protection orders to temporarily take guns from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. Minnesota will be at least the 20th state with such a red-flag law.
Colorado will become one of a dozen states banning so-called ghost guns. The new law prohibits firearms that are assembled at home or 3D-printed without serial numbers, practices that have allowed owners to evade background checks.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block an Illinois law from taking effect Monday that bans high-powered semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. But a federal judge recently blocked a California law that would have banned carrying concealed guns in many public places.
Several state laws delve into acceptable online activities. A new Connecticut law requires online dating operators to adopt policies for handling harassment reports by or between users.
A North Carolina law will require pornographic website operators to confirm viewers are at least 18 years old by using a commercially available database. The law lets parents sue companies if their children were allowed to access the pornography. Another new Illinois law will allow lawsuits from victims of deepfake pornography, in which videos or images are manipulated without their consent.
Gender restrictions and book bans
Over the past few years, there has been a major push by conservatives to restrict access to gender-affirming treatments for transgender minors. Bans are on the books in 22 states, including some where judges have paused enforcement as they consider challenges to the policies.
New bans on access for minors to puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery, which is rare, are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 in Idaho, Louisiana and West Virginia. The West Virginia law contains an exception: Teens could still access treatment with parental consent and a diagnosis of severe gender dysphoria from two doctors.
While many Republican-led legislatures have imposed restrictions, many Democrat-dominated states have responded with transgender protections. A law taking effect Monday in Hawaii requires new marriage certificates to be issued to people who request to change how their sex is listed. The state also is replacing gender-specific terms in state law; “mother” is being replaced with “birthing parent” and “father” with “non-birthing parent.”
In Colorado, new buildings wholly or partly owned by government entities will be required to have on every floor where there are public restrooms at least one that does not specify the gender of the users.
The conservative push on LGBTQ+ policies also has come with efforts to keep certain books out of school or public libraries. An Indiana law taking effect makes it easier for parents and others to challenge books in school libraries. By contrast, a new Illinois law would block state funding for public libraries that ban or restrict books.
The new year brings a variety of new laws on taxes and wages — perennial issues for state governments.
More than 20 states will raise minimum wages for workers, further widening the gap between state requirements and the federal minimum, which has been static at $7.25 an hour since July 2009. In several states, the new minimum wage will more than double that rate.
Maryland’s minimum wage will be set at $15 an hour. In New Jersey, it will be $15.13 an hour for most employees. In Connecticut, $15.69 per hour. In New York City, $16 an hour, though it will be $15 in most of the rest of the state. California’s statewide minimum wage also will rise to $16 per hour. And in Washington, the minimum rate will be $16.28.
Residents in some states will gain money by paying less in taxes, continuing a three-year trend in which nearly every state has reduced, rebated or suspended some type of broad-based tax.
In Kansas, the sales tax on groceries will drop from 4% to 2% in its next step toward eventual elimination, producing a savings of $208 annually for a family spending an average of $200 weekly on groceries.
About 1 million tax filers are expected to benefit from Connecticut’s first income tax rate reduction since the mid-1990s. Lower-income workers and retirees also stand to benefit from expanded tax breaks.
Missouri also will reduce its income tax rate while expanding tax exemptions for Social Security benefits and military training pay. Businesses will be able to claim tax credits for hiring interns or apprentices.
Alabama will exempt overtime pay from the state’s income tax, though that lasts only until June 2025 unless renewed by lawmakers.
A federal judge declined Tuesday to pause litigation challenging Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors as similar cases wind upward toward the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke said no to a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to put the Alabama case on hold until appellate courts decide if they will hear related petitions on whether states can enact such bans. The Justice Department asked for the stay because, “this exceptional legal landscape is quickly evolving.”
Burke wrote that the case will move forward for now. He said a stay might be appropriate later if those petitions are granted.
Transgender young people and their families have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision that allowed bans in Kentucky and Tennessee to remain in effect. In the Alabama case, families with transgender children have asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a decision that would let the Alabama law take effect.
The Alabama case is scheduled to go to trial in April.
At least 22 states have enacted laws banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors and most of the bans are being challenged in court.
The Alabama ban makes it a felony — punishable by up to 10 years in prison — for doctors to treat people under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm a new gender identity. The law remains blocked by injunction until the 11th Circuit appeals court issues a mandate in the case.
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Efforts for the repeal of Alabama’s prohibition on gambling date back more than two decades. Back in 1999, voters in the state rejected a proposal that called for the establishment of a lottery and similar efforts since have not gained much traction. While lawmakers identify the potential benefits of legal gambling, no bill has made it far enough to change Alabama’s state constitution and introduce some form of the activity.
Considering that gambling is prohibited as a part of the state’s constitution, lawmakers need to pass a constitutional amendment to pave the way for gambling. There is a chance for Alabama residents to vote for or against a gambling constitutional amendment during the upcoming 2024 presidential election ballot. Despite the benefits legal gambling may bring, not everyone agrees that the legalization of the activity is the right thing to do.
State Sen. Chris Elliott, who was recently interviewed by Jeff Poor, the host of “The Jeff Poor Show,” on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5, spoke about the potential dangers of putting a gambling constitutional amendment on the upcoming ballot. “The folks who are elected officials are all very keen on those politics. So, I think it is pretty reasonable to say it would be a mistake to put gaming on the presidential election (ballot), that it would drive up Democrats’ turnout,” he explained as quoted by 1819 News.
Gaming Discussion Has a Long Way to Go
According to Elliott, neither of the chambers would be interested in such a result. The Senator admitted he will continue monitoring the topic and pay close attention to any changes. Yet, Elliott confirmed that the legalization of gambling is a topic that requires a lot of discussion and time before becoming a reality. “It is something I certainly will be sitting back and watching to see how it goes in the House and what happens. But I’m not getting down into the details of it until something actually matriculates. It is very much a work in progress,” he explained.
“But I’ll be honest with you: I think the whole gaming conversation has got miles and miles to go before we get to any kind of solution.“
State Sen. Chris Elliott
State Reps. Andy Whitt and Chris Blackshear are among the lawmakers who are reportedly supporting the legalization of gambling in Alabama. Amid the growing concerns about the impact of illegal gambling, Whitt hinted at plans for a new bill that seeks to combat the illegal offering through “blanket penalties.” The lawmaker explained that illegal gambling results in an increase in other crimes such as drug use or violent crimes, which underlines the need for effective legislation that combats the activity.
With just 40 days until the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump’s four chief rivals, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy, took the stage in the fourth primary debate in Alabama. CBS News’ Robert Costa reports from the University of Alabama.
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Four Republican presidential candidates faced off at the fourth GOP debate Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett anchors a special edition of “America Decides.”
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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will take the debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to debate one last time before the Iowa caucus. CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa looks ahead to the fourth GOP 2024 presidential debate.
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Antonio Munoz speaks to CNN’s John King during an interview in Nevada. CNN
Antonio Munoz remembers admiring Ronald Reagan as a child, in a Las Vegas very different than it is today.
“When I was born here it was very small,” Munoz said. “The communities were kind of segregated. You had your Hispanics on one side of town, your African Americans another side of town. Then you had the strip and downtown, which was very small resorts, small hotels. But now we have mega resorts.”
Something else has changed. Hispanics were just 7% of Nevada’s population when Reagan was elected but are 30% now.
“It’s amazing the political power that Hispanics are creating here in the state of Nevada,” Munoz said during a break at his Vegas restaurant, 911 Taco Bar.
It is a political power with the potential to remake the 2024 electoral map. Nevada has backed the Democrat for president in four consecutive elections – but only by 2 points in 2020. There is evidence of modest GOP inroads with Hispanic voters in both 2020 and 2022 election data, and it is not hard to find signs of an opening for further Republican gains in 2024.
CNN traveled to Nevada – a key battleground next year – as part of our project tracking the 2024 campaign through the eyes and experiences of voters.
Munoz is an independent who says his presidential voting record is about evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with a third-party vote in 2016. He declined to answer when asked about his 2020 vote.
“Why? Because the nature, the nature of society right now,” he said. “We’re a small business and they will attack you. They will attack you just because you support a certain candidate and it’s sad.”
His two adult sons are split, one for President Joe Biden and one for former President Donald Trump, who’s the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024. Munoz says he is truly undecided, though he takes sharp issue with Trump’s tone about Mexicans and immigrants.
“It hurts, it hurts,” Munoz said. “You know, sometimes we speak out of turn, maybe he does it more than others.”
First, Rescuing Ukraine’s abducted children. Then, hear from Maui firefighters on surviving the wildfire. Next, Steven Van Zandt: The 60 Minutes Interview. And, descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to Alabama on the Clotilda slave ship speak up.
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Descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to Alabama on the last known slave ship met with the family of the ship’s financier to discuss reconciliation.
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An Alabama inmate convicted of killing a man during a 1993 robbery when he was a teenager was executed Thursday by lethal injection.
Casey McWhorter, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:56 p.m. at a southwest Alabama prison, authorities said. McWhorter was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for his role in the robbery and shooting death of Edward Lee Williams, 34, on Feb. 18, 1993.
Prosecutors said McWhorter, who was three months past his 18th birthday at the time of the killing, conspired with two younger teenagers, including Williams’ 15-year-old son, to steal money and other items from Williams’ home and then kill him. The jury that convicted McWhorter recommended a death sentence by a vote of 10-2, which a judge, who had the final decision, imposed, according to court records. The younger teens — Edward Lee Williams Jr. and Daniel Miner, who was 16 — were sentenced to life in prison, according to court records.
This image provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Casey McWhorter, who was sentenced to death for the 1993 shooting death of Edward Lee Williams during a robbery. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey set a Nov. 16, 2023, execution date for McWhorter.
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP
“It’s kind of unfortunate that we had to wait so long for justice to be served, but it’s been served,” the victim’s brother, Bert Williams, told reporters after the execution. He added that the lethal injection provided McWhorter a peaceful death unlike the violent end his brother endured.
Prison officials opened the curtain to the execution chamber at 6:30 p.m. McWhorter, who was strapped to the gurney with the intravenous lines already attached, moved slightly at the beginning of the procedure, rubbing his fingers together, but his breathing slowed until it was no longer visible.
“I would like to say I love my mother and family,” McWhorter said in his final words. “I would like to say to the victim’s family I’m sorry. I hope you find peace.”
McWhorter also used his final words to take an apparent verbal jab at his executioner, the prison warden who faced domestic violence accusations decades ago, saying that, “it’s not lost on me that a habitual abuser of women is carrying out this procedure.”
Prosecutors said McWhorter and Miner went to the Williamses’ home with rifles and fashioned homemade silencers from a pillow and a milk jug. When the older Williams arrived home and discovered the teens, he grabbed the rifle held by Miner. They began to struggle over it, and McWhorter fired the first shot at Williams, according to a summary of the crime in court filings. Williams was shot a total of 11 times.
April Williams, the victim’s daughter, said her father today should be spending time with his grandchildren and enjoying retirement.
“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him and how I miss him,” April Williams said in a statement read by Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm. “Casey McWhorter had several hours in that house to change his mind from taking the life of my Dad.”
Defense attorneys had unsuccessfully sought a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court, citing McWhorter’s age at the time of the crime. They argued the death sentence was unconstitutional because Alabama law does not consider a person to be a legal adult until age 19.
McWhorter, who called himself a “confused kid” at the time of the slaying, said he would encourage young people going through difficult times to take a moment before making a life-altering mistake like he did.
“Anything that comes across them that just doesn’t sit well at first, take a few seconds to think that through,” he told The Associated Press in an interview last week. “Because one bad choice, one stupid mistake, one dumb decision can alter your life — and those that you care about — forever.” McWhorter maintained that he did not intend to kill Williams. Attorney General Steve Marshall said as Williams was on the ground wounded that McWhorter shot him in the head.
McWhorter spent nearly 30 years on Alabama’s death row, making him among the longest-serving inmates of the state’s 165 death row inmates.
“Edward Lee Williams’ life was taken away from him at the hands of Casey A. McWhorter, and tonight, Mr. McWhorter answered for his actions,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement.
The Rev. Jeff Hood, a death row minister who works with an anti-death penalty group, accompanied McWhorter into the execution chamber as his spiritual adviser. “It is not lost on me that he was a murderer and so are all Alabamians tonight. I pray that we will all learn to stop killing each other,” Hood said in a statement.
The Alabama execution occurred the same night that Texas executed a man convicted of strangling a 5-year-old girl who was taken from a Walmart store nearly 22 years ago.
McWhorter was the second inmate put to death this year in Alabama after the state paused executions for several months to review procedures following a series of failed or problematic executions. James Barber, 64, was executed by lethal injection in July for the 2001 beating death of a woman.
Alabama plans in January to make the nation’s first attempt to put an inmate to death using nitrogen gas. Nitrogen hypoxia has been authorized as an execution method in Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi, but no state has used it.
U.S. health officials are warning doctors to be on the lookout for possible cases of lead poisoning in children after at least 22 toddlers in 14 states were sickened by lead linked to tainted pouches of cinnamon apple puree and applesauce.
Children ages 1 to 3 were affected, and at least one child showed a blood lead level eight times higher than the level that raises concern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
There’s no safe level of lead exposure, but the CDC uses a marker of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to identify children with higher levels than most. The affected children’s blood lead levels ranged from 4 to 29 micrograms per deciliter.
The reported symptoms included headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, a change in activity level and anemia.
The illnesses are part of an outbreak tied to recalled pouches of fruit puree marketed to kids from the brands WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree and Schnucks and Weis cinnamon applesauce pouches. The products were sold in stores and online.
Parents and caregivers should not buy or serve the products, and kids who may have eaten them should be tested for lead levels. Children who are affected may show no symptoms, experts said.
Lead exposure can lead to serious learning and behavior problems. Heavy metals like lead can get into food products from soil, air, water or industrial processes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The CDC said there were cases in the following states as of Nov. 7: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.
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In seven outings this season, Jalen Milroe has connected on 99 of 153 throws, amassing 1,617 yards. Milroe leads the SEC and sits third nationally, with 16.33 yards per completion.
Alabama has excelled in the red zone, converting on 22 out of 24 scoring opportunities.
Jermaine Burton is a dynamic playmaker for the Crimson Tide, leading UA with 508 yards and five touchdowns on 23 receptions.
Alabama’s defense is a tough nut to crack, allowing a mere 16.5 points per game, putting them at 16th nationally and second in the SEC.
Away: LSU Tigers
LSU has been lighting up the scoreboard with a four-game streak of 48 or more points, setting a school record.
QB Jayden Daniels is a dual-threat playmaker, rushing and passing for touchdowns in the same game 10 times during his 22-game LSU career. The Tigers hold an impressive 9-1 record when Daniels accomplishes this feat.
LSU’s offense boasts a top-10 national ranking in seven categories, including first place in scoring (47.4), total offense (552.9), passing touchdowns (26), 3rd-down conversions (57.8), and first downs (217).
LSU’s receiving corps has been on fire, featuring a 100-yard receiver in seven consecutive games. Brian Thomas and Malik Nabers both reached this milestone against Army.
Alabama Crimson Tide Home Feed:
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Washington — A federal judge ruled Thursday that some of Georgia’s congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner and ordered state lawmakers to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in a 516-page order, also said the state must draw two new Black-majority districts in Georgia’s 56-member state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in its 180-member state House.
Jones ordered Georgia’s Republican-controlled General Assembly and GOP governor to take action before Dec. 8, saying he wouldn’t permit 2024 elections to go forward under the current maps. That would require a special session, as lawmakers aren’t scheduled to meet again until January. If the state fails to enact remedial plans by his deadline that provide Black voters the opportunity to elect their favored candidates, Jones said the court will draw or adopt its own maps.
The judge’s ruling
“After conducting a thorough and sifting review of the evidence in this case, the Court finds that the State of Georgia violated the Voting Rights Act when it enacted its congressional and legislative maps,” Jones wrote. “The Court commends Georgia for the great strides that it has made to increase the political opportunities of Black voters in the 58 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite these great gains, the Court determines that in certain areas of the State, the political process is not equally open to Black voters.”
The judge sought to dispel concerns about the Dec. 8 deadline he set for the new maps, writing that he is “confident that the General Assembly can accomplish its task” by then.
“The General Assembly enacted the Plans quickly in 2021; the Legislature has been on notice since at least the time that this litigation was commenced nearly 22 months ago that new maps might be necessary; the General Assembly already has access to an experienced cartographer; and the General Assembly has an illustrative remedial plan to consult,” he wrote.
Jones’ ruling follows a September trial in which the plaintiffs argued that Black voters are still fighting opposition from White voters and need federal help to get a fair shot. The state argued court intervention on behalf of Black voters wasn’t needed.
The move could shift one of Georgia’s 14 congressional seats from Republican to Democratic control. GOP lawmakers redrew the congressional map from an 8-6 Republican majority to a 9-5 Republican majority in 2021.
Rulings in other states
The Georgia case is part of a wave of litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year stood behind its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, rejecting a challenge to the law by Alabama.
Courts in Alabama and Florida ruled recently that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting power of Black residents. Legal challenges to congressional districts are also ongoing in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
In the Alabama dispute, a three-judge district court panel said it was “deeply troubled” after the state redrew its map following the Supreme Court’s June decision but failed to provide a remedy for the likely Voting Rights Act violation. Alabama Republicans sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court again, but the justices declined their request to use the redrawn congressional map in upcoming elections.
New voting lines selected by the judges in October give the state a second district where Black voters make up nearly 50% of the voting-age population.
Orders to draw new legislative districts could narrow Republican majorities in the state House and Senate. But on their own, those changes are unlikely to lead to a Democratic takeover.
Jones, who sits on the federal district court in Atlanta, reiterated in his opinion that Georgia has made progress since 1965 “towards equality in voting. However, the evidence before this Court shows that Georgia has not reached the point where the political process has equal openness and equal opportunity for everyone.”
He noted that despite the fact that all of the state’s population growth over the last decade was attributable to the minority population, the number of congressional and legislative districts with a Black majority remained the same.
That echoes a key contention of the plaintiffs, who argued repeatedly that the state added nearly 500,000 Black residents between 2010 and 2020 but drew no new Black-majority state Senate districts and only two additional Black-majority state House districts. They also said Georgia should have another Black majority congressional district.
In six appearances this season, QB Jalen Milroe has completed 85 of 132 passes for 1,397 yards. He leads the SEC, ranking fourth nationally with a remarkable 16.44 yards per completion.
Handling the tough yards for the Alabama ground game this season is Jase McClellan. An impressive 70.5 percent of his rushing yards have been gained after contact this season, averaging 3.33 yards after contact per carry.
Alabama’s defense has been formidable, limiting opponents to just 112 points this season. The defense is allowing a mere 16.0 points per game, ranking 12th nationally and second in the SEC.
Away: Tennessee Volunteers
Joe Milton heads into the Alabama game with a remarkable streak of 10 consecutive games, throwing at least one touchdown pass. He’s been particularly potent, with multiple touchdown passes in four out of six games this season. Furthermore, Milton is tied for ninth in the SEC for rushing touchdowns, a feat that places him at third among quarterbacks in the conference.
The Vols feature a stellar running back trio, consisting of Sr. Jabari Small, Jr. Jaylen Wright, and So. Dylan Sampson. As a team, Tennessee stands atop the SEC for rushing yards per game, averaging an impressive 231.3 yards, which also ranks sixth in the FBS. Their yards per carry at 5.9 leads the SEC and stands fifth nationally.
On the defensive front, the Vols have surrendered the fewest touchdowns in the league, totaling only 11. Opponents have struggled to find the end zone, managing only two touchdowns against UT in the last seven quarters, with the last three quarters resulting in zero TDs.
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Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.
An award-winning Canadian author’s last name recently led an Alabama library system to flag her children’s book as potentially “sexually explicit,” according to a local news report.
The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system added Marie-Louise Gay’s 2013 picture book “Read Me a Story, Stella” to a list of 200-plus books to review and possibly move out of the children’s section, Al.com reported.
The book centers on a girl named Stella and her little brother Sam, who read together in a “whimsical, humorous story” that creates “a world where reading enriches the beauty and natural wonders of a magical day,” according to Gay’s website.
Kirsten Brassard, a publicist for Gay at Groundwood Books, told Al.com that the book had never been “mistakenly censored.”
“Although it is obviously laughable that our picture book shows up on their list of censored books simply because the author’s last name is Gay, the ridiculousness of that fact should not detract from the seriousness of the situation,” Brassard said in a statement.
Cindy Hewitt, executive director of the library system, told Al.com that Gay’s book shouldn’t have placed on the list and “was added because of the keyword ‘gay.’”
“Obviously, we’re not going to touch that book for any reason,” Hewitt said.
A copy of the list shared by Al.com reveals a number of other flagged books including “Molly and the Twin Towers,” which tells the story of a girl, her gay fathers and her sister navigating life in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Another is a graphic novel for “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” which is based on a franchise that includes the series “Legend of Korra,” whose main character “is a bisexual woman in a lesbian relationship,” Alabama Political Reporter noted.
The library brought a stop to its efforts after criticism that the list was targeting the LGBTQ community, Al.com reported.
Hewitt said library staffers were allowed to make decisions on moving library materials to an older age group without outside involvement.
“We understand and appreciate our community, and the needs of our collection to reflect our community. We were never eliminating any book. We were just looking at it as a whole,” Hewitt told Al.com.
A high school band director in Birmingham, Alabama, who was tased and arrested following a football game last week after police allegedly asked him to stop his band’s performance spoke out Wednesday, saying he was the victim of “excessive” force by police in front of parents and students. Omar Villafranca has more.
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Friday marks 60 years since the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. CBS News correspondent Danya Bacchus spoke to a woman who was inspired into a life of activism before and after the tragic event.
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Washington — Alabama on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let it keep Republican-drawn congressional lines in place as the state continues to fight a court order to create a second district where Black voters constitute a majority or close to it.
Despite losing at the Supreme Court earlier this year in the long-running redistricting case, Alabama is pursuing another appeal, hoping for a different result with the most recent GOP version of the map. Alabama asked the justices to stay a ruling issued last week by a three-judge panel that that blocked the use of the latest GOP-drawn districts in upcoming elections and directed a court-appointed special master to propose new lines for the state.
The judges, in their ruling, said Alabama lawmakers deliberately defied their directive to create a second majority-Black district or something close to it and they were “deeply troubled” that the state enacted a map that “does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires.”
The Alabama attorney general’s office asked justices to put the order on hold while the state appeals “so that millions of Alabama voters are not soon districted into that court-ordered racial gerrymander.”
“Race-based redistricting at the expense of traditional principles ‘bears an uncomfortable resemblance to political apartheid,’” the attorney general’s office wrote in the request to Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency requests arising from the southeast, referencing a 1992 Supreme Court opinion in a case involving racial gerrymandering.
Alabama officials asked the Supreme Court to issue a stay of the panel’s order no later than Oct. 3, when the district court has scheduled a hearing to select a new, court-drawn map.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which backed one of the court challenges in Alabama, likened the state’s actions to that of former segregationist Gov. George Wallace who tried to stop Black students from entering the University of Alabama in 1963.
“This is a shameful and arrogant continuation of a sordid history in Alabama that denies equal rights to Black Alabamians, no matter how the United States Supreme Court rules,” Holder said.
The Supreme Court in June upheld a three-judge panel’s finding that Alabama’s prior map — with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — likely violates Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. The three judges said the state should have two districts where Black voters have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.
Alabama lawmakers in July hastily passed a new map as a remedy. However, it maintained a single majority-Black district and boosted the percentage of Black voters in another district, District 2, from about 30% to nearly 40%. The three-judge panel chided Alabama lawmakers for flouting their instruction. The panel directed a court-appointed special master to submit three proposed new maps by Sept. 25.
The state’s request to the Supreme Court comes after the three judges refused to put their order on hold as the state appeals. The judges said state voters should not have to endure another congressional election under an “unlawful map.”
“We repeat that we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the Secretary readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires. And we are disturbed by the evidence that the State delayed remedial proceedings but did not even nurture the ambition to provide that required remedy,” the judges wrote Monday as they refused to stay their order.
Alabama’s hope for a reversal of fortune seems to at least partly hinge on persuading Justice Brett Kavanaugh to support the state’s side in the latest round. Kavanaugh did not join in all of the majority opinion.
Alabama’s court filing repeatedly cites Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in the case this summer. He wrote that even if race-based redistricting was allowed under the Voting Rights Act for a period of time, that “the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future.”
Federal judges said Tuesday that they will draft new congressional lines for Alabama after lawmakers refused to create a second district where Black voters at least came close to comprising a majority, as suggested by the court.
The three-judge panel blocked use of the state’s newly drawn congressional map in next year’s elections,finding the redistricting plan likely violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voters. A special master will be tapped to draw new districts for the state, the judges said. Alabama is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Based on the evidence before us, including testimony from the Legislators, we have no reason to believe that allowing the Legislature still another opportunity to draw yet another map will yield a map that includes an additional opportunity district,” the judges wrote in their opinion.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which backed one of the challenges that led to the court ruling, called it a “a significant step toward equal representation for Black Alabamians.”
The Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature hastily drew new lines this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the panel’s finding that the map — that had one majority-Black district out of seven in a state where 27% of residents are Black — likely violated the Voting Rights Act.
Section 2 of the landmark law prohibits any voting procedure that abridges or denies the right to vote “on account of race.” A violation of Section 2 occurs when, “based on the totality of circumstances,” members of a protected class “have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.”
The three-judge panel, in striking down Alabama’s map in 2022, said the state should have two districts where Black voters have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. Because of racially polarized voting in the state, that map would need to include a second district where Black voters are the majority or “something quite close,” the judges wrote.
Alabama lawmakers in July passed a new map that maintained a single majority-Black district and boosted the percentage of Black voters in another district, District 2, from about 30% to almost 40%.
The three judges said Tuesday that they were “deeply troubled” that Alabama lawmakers enacted a map that ignored their finding that the state should have an additional majority-Black district “or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.”
“We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature — faced with a federal court order declaring that its electoral plan unlawfully dilutes minority votes and requiring a plan that provides an additional opportunity district — responded with a plan that the state concedes does not provide that district. The law requires the creation of an additional district that affords Black Alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The 2023 Plan plainly fails to do so,” the judges wrote.
In a hearing last month, all three judges pointedly questioned the state’s solicitor general about the state’s refusal to create a second majority-Black district.
“What I hear you saying is the state of Alabama deliberately chose to disregard our instructions to draw two majority-Black districts or one where minority candidates could be chosen,” Judge Terry Moorer said.
The state argued the map complied with the Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court decision in the case. The state argued that justices did not require the creation of a second majority-Black district if doing so would mean violating traditional redistricting principles, such as keeping communities of interest together.
“District 2 is as close as you are going to get to a second majority-Black district without violating the Supreme Court’s decision,” Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour replied to Moorer.
Abha Khanna, an attorney representing one group of plaintiffs in the case, argued during the hearing that Alabama chose “defiance over compliance” and urged the judges to reject the state’s map.
“Alabama has chosen instead to thumb its nose at this court and to thumb its nose at the nation’s highest court and to thumb its nose at its own Black citizens,” Khanna said.
