In yet another blow to Alabama Republicans, the Supreme Court has declined to reinstate a congressional map ruled a racial gerrymander by lower courts, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The order is the second time this year that the generally conservative-favoring court has blocked congressional lines found to discriminate against Black voters in the state, who for years have only been given a single majority district out of seven, despite making up a quarter of Alabama's population.
A lawsuit heard by the Supreme Court in the previous term, Allen v. Milligan, found that this arrangement was illegal under the Voting Rights Act, and that Black voters had a right to a number of districts more representative with their share of the population — a decision that surprised many legal observers, who had expected the justices to rule for Alabama.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined with the three liberals in the majority opinion.
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The consequence of the ruling was that Alabama was required to draw a new map that contained two majority-Black districts. However, the legislature openly defied this order, drawing a new map that, just like the old one, only had a single majority-Black district.
A three-judge panel overseeing the redistricting, including two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump, rejected this remedial map as not compliant, paving the way for a court-appointed special master to select a map instead. Alabama responded by appealing, unsuccessfully, to the Supreme Court to reinstate the map they had drawn.
The redistricting decision has potential consequences for several other Southern states, which are also facing legal challenges to the way they have divided up Black voters in congressional districts. This could have far-reaching impacts on Republican odds of retaining their narrow House majority in 2024, as the general effect of these racial gerrymanders has been to give Republicans extra seats.
