WASHINGTON, DC-The Supreme Court struck down Alabama’s redrawn congressional map Thursday as being racially discriminatory…with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the court’s liberal justices in affirming a ruling against the state and preserving the Voting Rights Act’s protections against diluting Black residents’ votes even though critics feared the conservative-leaning court would uphold the map and deal a blow to voting rights.
The Supreme Court affirmed that lower court ruling in a 5-4 ruling after previously temporarily reversing it, ruling in February 2022 that the legislature-drawn map with only one majority-Black district should stay in place for the 2022 elections until the high court ruled on the case.
The court’s ruling leaves in place section two of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices that are racially discriminatory, striking down Alabama’s arguments that section two should be declared unconstitutional as it applies to redistricting.
Federal court orders Alabama redraw Congressional map and create a second majority Black district
The court’s majority found the challenge to Alabama’s voting map was in line with previous Supreme Court precedents that lay out when a map violates the Voting Rights Act, finding there could reasonably be a second majority-Black voting district and affirming the racial polarization of votes in Alabama and that if a district isn’t majority-Black, the candidate preferred by white voters will consistently beat out the one preferred by Black voters.
“Alabama’s congressional and state legislative lines are drawn by the legislature, as normal legislation, subject to gubernatorial veto.
In the 2020 cycle, the legislature passed a congressional plan (HB 1) on November 3, 2021; the plan was signed by the Governor on November 4, 2021. The congressional plan was challenged by multiple lawsuits in federal court beginning on November 4, 2021; the litigation is still pending. The legislature passed a state legislative plans (HB 2 for state House districts, SB 1 for state Senate districts) on November 3, 2021; the plans were signed by the Governor on November 4, 2021. The state legislative plans were challenged in federal court on November 15, 2021.
In the 2010 cycle, the legislature passed a congressional plan (SB 484) on June 2, 2011; the plan was signed by the Governor on June 8, 2011, and precleared on Nov. 21, 2011. The legislature passed a state legislative plan (HB 19 for state House districts, SB 25 for state Senate districts) on May 24, 2012; the plan was signed by the Governor on May 31, 2012 and precleared on Oct. 5, 2012. The state legislative maps were challenged in court, and on Jan. 20, 2017, a three-judge federal trial court struck several state House and Senate districts on grounds that they were drawn with an unjustified use of race. On May 19, 2017, the legislature passed remedial state legislative plans (HB 571 for state House districts, SB 403 for state Senate districts); the plans were signed by the Governor on May 23, 2017, and accepted by the court for use in the 2018 elections and beyond.” ~ Loyola Law School
