Supreme Court Allows Alabama to Use Republican-Favored Congressional Map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Alabama to use a congressional map that favors Republicans in this year's elections, blocking a lower court ruling that found the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black voters.

The justices granted the state's emergency appeal to use a map adopted three years ago, which creates only one majority-Black district out of seven, despite Black residents comprising about 27% of the state's population. The three liberal justices dissented.

The high court's order is the latest development in a redistricting battle that is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to maintain Republicans' slim House majority in the November elections. The decision came a day before an important deadline that Republican Governor Kay Ivey had already extended, as the state sought to use the map in special primary elections scheduled for August.

Alabama's Republican leadership went to the Supreme Court last week after a three-judge panel refused to let the state use its preferred map. The lower court had ordered Alabama to use the same court-drawn map used in the 2024 elections, which sent two Black Democrats to Congress.

Black residents comprise a majority or close to it in two of the state's seven congressional districts under that map.

Deuel Ross, director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, condemned the decision, stating, "The Supreme Court's decision gives cover to Alabama and others to deliberately and openly discriminate against Black voters without fear of any consequence. The Court's shameless decision to reinstate an intentionally racially discriminatory map defies any thoughtful or consistent application of the law." He said the fund will continue to fight for fair representation.

Shortly after the court acted, Governor Ivey confirmed that the state will use the map in special congressional primaries in four districts on August 11. "The U.S.

Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best. Today's decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections," Ivey said.

The order is the latest fallout from last month's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

The Alabama case stretches back several years. The three-judge panel ruled in 2023 that a map drawn by Republican state lawmakers intentionally diluted the voting power of Black citizens.

After the Supreme Court's recent Louisiana ruling, Alabama officials moved to implement the 2023 state-drawn map. The Supreme Court's conservative majority agreed to lift the injunction blocking the map's use and sent the case back for reconsideration.

Upon further review, the judicial panel stood by its initial finding of intentional racial discrimination. The high court's conservative majority wrote that the lower court "did not heed the presumption of legislative good faith."

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized her colleagues for enabling what she called "a chaotic election, held under a never-before-used congressional map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians." The use of the court-ordered map led to the 2024 election of U.S. Rep.

Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. The map now in place gives the GOP an opportunity to reclaim that south Alabama seat.