So Much For “No Enforcement Vehicle.” The Federal Courts Grow Some Teeth

For several years now, ever since the reign of Emperor Numbus Nuttus, you keep having the words constitutional crisis a whole lot more than we used to. And one of the reasons is the fear that The Supreme Court will make a ruling, and that the sore loser, most likely Traitor Tot will say F*ck that and do what he wants anyway. Because the Supreme Court has no Supreme Court Police, not even the US Marshals to call on to enforce their rulings. They don’t have an enforcement vehicle. They rely on voluntary compliance with the rule of law. And it was just a matter of time before somebody decided to try to get away with it.

I have been following this case as closely as possible, simply because it can have a critical effect on the eventual outcome of the 2024 House elections. This was the pilot test case for likely cases in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. But if you need a bunch of racist rednecks eager to Go up against the Man, Alabama’s your state.

Here’s the 411. In the aftermath of the 2020 census, several GOP dominated state legislatures held a piranha style feeding frenzy in redistricting and went for broke. The first one to be challenged was Alabama. Pre 2021 there were six GOP districts and two heavily black Democratic districts. By the time the Alabama legislature was done with their congressional sushi session, there was only one black legislative district left, and seven GOP districts. This seat was critical in helping to flip the House in 2022.

The problem is that Stupid is as stupid does. They got arrogant and redrew the maps in such a way that there could be no doubt about the purely racial intent of their gerrymander. This is critical, since several years ago the Roberts court ruled that it would not get involved in in state pissing contests over political gerrymandering disputes, but would still intervene in racial redistricting cases still covered under The Voting Rights Act.

Which this clearly was. The Alabama federal district court minced no words in telling the Klansmen in the Alabama House that their map violated not only the state constitution, but the US Constitution as well. The court ordered the legislature to redraw the map with a 2nd black competitive district in time for the 2024 election. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals lustily sided with the federal court, and several months go, the US Supreme Court ruled in agreement by a 5-4 decision that the map must be redrawn in time for the 2024 election.

Which sent the racist slobs of the Alabama House into a seditious frenzy. The goddamn gubbmint of Southern Oppression is going to tell them what to do? F*ck that! They spent months laboring away, and came up with a replacement map that was almost indistinguishable from the first one. In direct contradiction of a Supreme Court ruling. Nobody tells the Good Old Goys what to do!

Wrong move, bucko-s. Kiddie Kop Judge Aileen Cannon could have told them that they were playing with fire. In rejecting the new redrawn Alabama map today, the 11th Appellate Court specifically reminded the lowlifes that they were under a Supreme Court ruling.

And then the 11th Circuit dropped the hammer on the Alabama legislature. They announced that the new map was unacceptable to the SCOTUS ruling, and announced the appointment of a Special Master to redraw the map to federal court approval in time for the 2024 election. BANG! So much for there being no enforcement vehicle for the Supreme Court.

And here’s the McGuffin. Of course the Cro-Magnons of the Alabama legislature will appeal the ruling, but there is no reason on earth for the Supreme Court to rehear the case. The court has already ruled on the original map, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is doing nothing more than forcing compliance on the courts existing ruling. Alabama is going to get a Special Master, and the Democrats are going to get a new seat in 2024.

Here’s why I’ve been following this as closely as possible. As I mentioned earlier, there are other states, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina that all have similar suits against their redistricting maps, all based on racial gerrymandering under The Voting Rights Act. The Alabama case sets Supreme Court precedent. As these cases weave their way through the federal courts, if both the district court as well as the appellate court find racial gerrymandering, especially if any of the courts cite Supreme Court precedent, there is little to no reason for the SCOTUS to take up each case individually.

Math Class! Right now House Squeaker Cave-In McCarthy has an unmanageable 222-212 majority in the House. It would only take the Democrats a six seat pickup to flip the House next November. Alabama will almost certainly provide the Democrats with one, as will Texas and Louisiana. A Florida judge just slapped Florida Governor Darth Santis for racially gerrymandering, laying his map open to federal interdiction. Georgia and North Carolina are also extremely likely to find themselves butting up against the Supreme Court Precedent barrier. By my finger count math, a clean sweep makes six likely or prime House seat pickups for the Democrats in 2024. And if my feeble memory is correct, there are at least three New York congressional districts being redrawn due to errors in the non partisan commission map. If the Democrats run that judicial and redraw table, they can retake the House without having to flip a single seat in the election.

This is how justice is supposed to work. The federal court judges have always had several arrows in their quiver for forcing compliance. Civil fines for contempt of court, pretrial detention for contempt of court, orders and liens to ensure their rulings are complied with. The Supreme Court was the sole exception, relying on voluntary compliance for enforcement. It’s nice to see that there’s at least one way for the federal court system to put teeth into Supreme Court decisions. After all, the judicial system was the only system of government that kept Trump from turning our precious republic into a banana republic. Here, hold their beers.