The people who sued to overturn Georgia's congressional and legislative districts are attacking plans that Republican state lawmakers claim cure illegal dilution of Black votes while preserving GOP power.
The House Committee on reapportionment and redistricting passed the congressional map proposed by Senate Republicans as the Legislature moves closer to wrapping up the special legislative session on Thursday.
Georgia Republicans are advancing a proposed congressional map that maintains their party's 9-5 majority in the state's congressional delegation. A Senate committee voted 7- 4 along party lines on Monday to send the map to the state Senate for more debate.
Georgia Republicans want to redraw the state's congressional districts to create a new court-ordered Black majority district while maintaining the current 9-5 Republican congressional majority. The proposal released Friday shows they are again targeting Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath's district for wholesale transformation.
In an October ruling, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ordered the legislature to draw five additional Black-majority districts in the House and two additional Black-majority districts in the Senate to accommodate increases in Georgia’s Black population in the last decade. On Friday, Republicans said their new maps honor Jones’ ruling.
This week on Georgia in Play: Rosalynn Carter, former first lady, was laid to rest in Plains this week. She was a well-beloved Georgian known for her deep commitment to humanitarian work. Plus, the state legislature is in a special session in order to redraw Georgia's voting maps after a federal judge ruled they discriminated against Black voters. Then, as the weather gets colder, single people are trying to find someone to get through "cuffing season" with. And City Café host John Lemley joins the panel to present holiday concerts to watch out for.
Georgia Senate Republicans are proposing a new map that would create two new Black-majority districts in the the General Assembly's upper chamber. The new map comes after a federal judge said current congressional, state Senate and state House maps illegally dilute Black votes.
Lawmakers will convene on Wednesday to re-draw Georgia's voting districts after federal Judge Steve Jones said that the current maps "dilute Black voting power."
The harassment began soon after her young patient became flashpoint in the national debate over abortion, Dr. Caitlin Bernard told NPR. "It's honestly been very hard for me, for my family," she said.
