Democrats defend legislative remap, saying Illinois has moved past racial voting patterns: ‘We are not Mississippi in 1965′

Speaking to a three-judge panel in the ceremonial courtroom in the downtown Dirksen federal building, an attorney representing the Illinois legislature’s Democratic majority acknowledged it was unusual to see the party’s work challenged by its traditional Latino and Black allies.

“MALDEF and the NAACP used to be at the same table,” attorney Sean Berkowitz said.

Not in this case. Berkowitz was in court to defend a new state legislative map drawn by Democrats against claims of disenfranchisement in legal challenges from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Black civil rights organization as well as Illinois Republicans.

The argument Berkowitz and other Democratic attorneys made is that while