Court Rules Alabama ‘Purposely’ Diluted Black Voting Power By Drawing Congressional Lines

The judges highlighted Alabama's 'deliberate decision to ignore' their order to draw a second district

A three-judge panel has permanently blocked Alabama from using a state-drawn map after ruling the state “purposely” diluted Black voting powers with a controversial drawn congressional map, CBS News reports.

The not-so-surprising ruling came down May 8, resulting in the state being mandated to use a court-ordered map that led to the state’s second Black congressman, Rep. Shomari C. Figures, being elected. The panel ruled against the state twice before and placed a new map in place for the 2024 elections.

The federal judges said the 2023 map drawn by the Alabama Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, just like the one drawn previously by the state. “The long and short of it is that the 2023 Plan unlawfully dilutes Black voting strength by consigning it to one majority-Black district,” the ruling said.

In the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision in Allen v. Milligan, the court ruled 5-4, not to further weaken the landmark law, affirming a lower court opinion that found it substantially likely that Alabama’s map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, according to CBS News.

In addition to claiming the state should have a second district with a decent percentage of Black voters—the judges highlighted Alabama’s “deliberate decision to ignore” their order to do.

“The Legislature knew what federal law required and purposefully refused to provide it, in a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it,” the ruling continued.

The issue of the congressional map has been an ongoing battle in the state, starting in 2021 when the congressional plan drawn after the 2020 Census consisted of six out of the seven districts being majority white, despite 27% of the state’s population being Black.

The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund celebrated the ruling, calling it a victory for Alabama’s Black voters.

“Today’s decision is a testament to the persistence and resilience of Black voters in Alabama, including our clients,” deputy director of litigation Deuel Ross said. “Alabama’s unprecedented defiance of the Supreme Court and the lower court orders harkens back to the darkest days of American history.”

While Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall has yet to make a statement, spokesperson Amanda Priest, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, said the office is “still reviewing the order and that all options remain on the table.”