Supreme Court halts Alabama plan for a House map with 2 Black districts

Supreme Court action shifts Alabama’s House map fight before primaries

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned a judicial order that had required Alabama to use a court-imposed U.S. House map until after the 2030 census, setting the stage for Alabama to eliminate one of two largely Black congressional districts before the state’s May primaries. The decision creates a fast-moving window for Alabama lawmakers and election officials as legal challenges to the congressional map continue to play out.

The Supreme Court’s action followed an April ruling in a separate case involving Louisiana, where the high court struck down a majority-Black U.S. House district as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The Monday decision said that the lower court should reconsider the Alabama case in light of the Louisiana ruling, according to the Associated Press.

Alabama officials had argued that the Louisiana decision undermined the basis for keeping the court-ordered House map in place. The Supreme Court’s Monday order directed the lower court to reassess the dispute, and it indicated that the ruling could allow Alabama to move to a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led Legislature, a plan that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.

Ahead of the primaries, Alabama officials also enacted a law that would allow the state to void the results of the May 19 primary for some congressional districts and instead hold a new primary under revised district boundaries if the court sequence changes. Alabama had asked for an expedited decision in the period leading up to the primary date.

In a statement after the ruling, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the Supreme Court “vindicated the state’s long-held position” and said the Legislature, not courts, should draw the new maps. Marshall also said his job was “to put the legislature in the best possible legal position to draw a congressional map that favors Republicans seven-to-zero,” and he concluded, “Stay tuned.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from Monday’s brief action, the Associated Press reported. In her dissent, Sotomayor said the Louisiana case had reversed only one of the grounds on which the Alabama case had been decided, arguing that even if the Voting Rights Act violation is gone, a lower court could still find Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters under the 14th Amendment.

Civil rights groups and a plaintiff in the case said Monday’s ruling would harm Black voting power and representation. NAACP National President Derrick Johnson said the decision signaled a “return to Jim Crow” and urged voters to “put an end to this madness while we still can,” while NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Deuel Ross said the organization would consider “all of our options” to protect the rights of the voters and keep the court-ordered map in place. Shalela Dowdy, described as a plaintiff in the case, said she was disappointed and predicted Alabama would eventually go after the remaining district.

Election logistics add to voter confusion as lawmakers prepare a contingency. The Supreme Court’s move landed a week before the May 19 primaries, and Alabama lawmakers last week approved legislation to allow special primaries in four impacted congressional districts if Alabama is able to switch maps. The governor would set the special election dates.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen called the Supreme Court’s action a “historic win for Alabama voters,” the Associated Press reported. Allen said the May 19 primaries would proceed as scheduled and that his office would remain in close contact with the governor’s office as the situation develops.

The dispute also intersects with current representation. The Associated Press reported that Republicans could seek to reclaim the district now represented by Democrat Rep. Shomari Figures, who was elected in 2024 under the court-ordered map. Figures, a Black lawmaker, was elected after the court-ordered boundaries gave Alabama two Black representatives in its congressional delegation for the first time in history, according to the Associated Press.

More broadly, Alabama’s case is part of a wider nationwide redistricting contest in which states have pursued changes to congressional boundaries ahead of November elections. The Associated Press reported that Republicans have intensified their efforts after the high court’s Louisiana decision, while Democrats and civil rights groups have argued the changes dilute minority voting influence.

As Alabama’s courts and Legislature continue to weigh how the map should be redrawn, the timeline for candidate filings and voters’ choices could depend on whether the lower court adjusts its approach in response to the Supreme Court’s directive in the Louisiana-linked review.