U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers partially blames the state Legislature for passing a congressional map during the special session that he believes always had a higher chance of getting rejected by the court.
“I’m sure the state’s going to ask for a grant of certiorari to make their argument,” Rogers (R-Saks) told Alabama Public Television. “Nobody has any idea what’s going to happen with that.”
A three-judge panel ruled against the state in the case of Allen v. Milligan last week, striking down the new congressional map and ordering a special master and cartographer to draw a new one.
Rogers said the Legislature should have passed the map drawn by State Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), which passed the House but failed in the Senate.
“I really regret the map drawn by Representative Pringle in the House was not adopted by the Senate and signed into law by the governor,” he said. “I think that would have met the court’s criteria and this could have stayed in Alabamians hands.”
Pringle, who sits as the co-chair of the Alabama Legislature’s redistricting committee, has since submitted his “communities of interest” plan to the special master for consideration.
Rogers said he has no idea what to expect when it comes to the new map being drawn by the court.
“Now we’ve got some special master and there’s no telling what they’re going to do,” he said. “And anybody who tells you they know is telling you a story.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
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