On Monday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to use a congressional map that a lower court previously ruled was racially gerrymandered.
NBC News reports that the Supreme Court set aside those previous rulings and sent the case back to the lower courts for relitigation. Alabama has tried for years to use a map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts.
What makes the Supreme Court’s decision surprising is that it previously ruled against the map in 2023, finding it likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Those prior rulings barred Alabama from drawing new congressional maps until 2030, and the state is currently using a congressional map drawn by a panel of three judges.
As a result of the Supreme Court effectively gutting the Voting Rights Act, Alabama asked the Supreme Court to expedite the appeals process. The Alabama state legislature has already prepared for this outcome by passing legislation last week that will allow Gov. Kay Ivey to postpone the primary elections to implement the new maps.
In a post on X, Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents one of Alabama’s two majority-Black districts, said the Supreme Court’s decision “sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and 60s in terms of Black political representation in the state.”
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her dissent that the court’s action was “inappropriate and will cause only confusion as Alabamians begin to vote in the elections scheduled for next week.”
I cannot stress enough how blatantly hypocritical the Supreme Court has been in these rulings on congressional maps. In December, the Supreme Court struck down a lower-court ruling that found Texas’ redistricting effort was a racial gerrymander. While the Supreme Court ruled it was a partisan gerrymander, they also made a note to the lower courts that rulings affecting congressional maps this close to an election were irresponsible.
Apparently, it’s OK to disrupt elections only a week before they’re set to occur as long as you’re actively disenfranchising Black people.
According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court may weigh in on another redistricting effort. Virginia’s attorney general and several other state officials have asked the court to overturn a ruling by the state’s Supreme Court that found Virginia’s redistricting effort was illegal. Virginia officials called the ruling “judicial defiance” that undermined the will of the people in their filing, adding that the state Supreme Court “deprived voters, candidates and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.”
Virginia Democrats have been engaged in a protracted redistricting effort over the last several months. Virginia law requires an amendment to the state constitution to be voted on by the Grand Assembly before and after an election before being put to a public vote. While Virginia voters approved the redistricting effort, Virginia Republicans filed several lawsuits against it, claiming that it was illegal because the first vote occurred while early voting was underway, a claim that the Virginia Supreme Court agreed with.
While the Supreme Court doesn’t usually weigh in on how a state Supreme Court interprets state laws, Virginia officials have argued that the ruling in the case hinges on a federal definition of “Election Day.”
Considering Virginia’s redistricting effort doesn’t implicitly walk back the rights that countless civil rights leaders fought and died for, I’m doubtful the Supreme Court is going to even acknowledge the case.
SEE ALSO:
Fighting For Black Political Power As Voting Rights Act Turns 60
Le[e]gal Brief: The Voting Rights Act Was Gutted. What’s Next?
Louisiana Republicans Postpone Primary Elections Following SCOTUS Decision
These Southern States Are Redistricting After Supreme Court Ruling
Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Democrats’ Redistricting Effort
