U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., joined colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday to warn against “the continued erosion of the Voting Rights Act” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
During the caucus’s Special Order Hour, held on the House floor Tuesday night, Sewell condemned the court’s ruling as undermining voting rights protections secured during the Civil Rights Movement and called on citizens to organize against efforts to redraw districts in favor of Republicans.
“For me, this fight is personal,” Sewell said. “I grew up in Selma in the shadow of the Civil Rights Movement. I represent the historic cities of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Marion and the Black Belt. Our communities carry the scars of Bloody Sunday, the Birmingham church bombings, fire hoses, police dogs and violent resistance to the simple idea that Black Americans deserve the full promise of citizenship.”
“People in my district bled for the right to vote. Some died for it,” she added. “And now, six decades later, extremists are trying to drag this country backward. They are trying to erase our hard-fought progress and silence the voices of the very communities that marched, that sacrificed, that organized to make American democracy real for everyone.”
During her remarks, Sewell pointed to the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby v. Holder, a case arising from Shelby County, Alabama, whose ruling rendered Section 5 of the VRA inoperable. Section 5 required federal preclearance for municipalities with a history of racial discrimination to make changes to voting laws.
“What happened next? Exactly what voting rights advocates warned would happen,” Sewell said. “States across the South rushed to impose restrictive voting laws. They closed polling places, purged voter rolls, and redrew maps designed to dilute Black political power.”
Sewell has carried the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act since 2018, legislation that would strengthen enforcement of the VRA through provisions such as the reinstatement of preclearance requirements.
Sewell went on to describe the Callais decision, which now threatens to return Alabama to a 2021 legislature-drawn congressional map that a federal three-judge panel and the U.S. Supreme Court have struck down for racial gerrymandering.
“With the Court’s recent decision in Callais, we are witnessing yet another dangerous step backward, another attack on the principle of fair representation and equal justice under the law,” she continued.
Following the Callais ruling and a petition filed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the Supreme Court on Monday voided its previous Milligan ruling and the lower court’s ruling, sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of Callais.
Unless the court intervenes, Alabama may proceed with its 2026 elections with the map previously struck down by the Supreme Court and lower court, while litigation challenging its borders continues.
In her closing remarks, the representative encouraged Alabamians to take part in the “All Roads Lead to the South” mass rally planned for Saturday, March 16, at 1 p.m. at the Alabama State Capitol.
“If your vote didn’t matter, they wouldn’t be working so hard to take it away,” Sewell said. “We are not going back. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. We will march, we will fight, we will organize, and we will vote until victory is won.”
