The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Alabama to use a congressional map that eliminates one of two majority-Black districts in the state in a win for Republicans.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The justices, split 6-3 on ideological lines with conservatives in the majority, granted an emergency request filed by Republican officials seeking to use the map, which was enacted in 2023 but has never been used.In the unsigned three-page order, the court said the state is likely to ultimately prevail on its claim that the map was lawfully drawn.In dissent, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority’s decision “disregards both democratic values and the rule of law.”Under the redrawn map, Democratic Rep.Shomari Figures would be likely to lose out.A lower court found that the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters in violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
In an earlier ruling, the court had also found that the map violated the Voting Rights Act.The intentional discrimination decision was based on the fact that the state drew the 2023 map with one majority-Black district even after the lower court suggested that there should be two after it found an earlier map violated the Voting Rights Act.That ruling rejecting Alabama’s 2021 map was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023.But the Supreme Court asked the lower court to take a new look at the case in light of its recent ruling in a case from Louisiana that weakened the Voting Rights Act, a law that previously placed sharp limits on states’ diluting the power of minority voters.The three-judge panel on May 26 concluded for a second time that the map was unconstitutional.In Tuesday’s order, the majority said the lower court did not sufficiently take into account its Louisiana ruling, which requires judges to largely defer to states’ partisan interests in drawing maps that benefit the majority party.The majority als...