Judges block Alabama districts that would dilute Black vote

A panel of federal judges blocked Alabama from using Republican-supported congressional district maps that would dilute the votes of Black people in November’s midterm elections.

The ruling in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama, which found that the maps “intentionally discriminated based on race,” sets the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether the maps, which were first proposed in 2023, can be used by Alabama this year.

Earlier this month, the Virginia Supreme Court blocked maps for Democratic-leaning congressional districts in that state, which had been approved in a statewide referendum in April.

Republicans last year began a series of congressional redistrictings in an effort to retain their ultra-thin majority in the House. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 4 signed a law creating a new congressional map that is projected to help Republicans add control of four House districts from the state.

Two judges on the panel were appointed by President Donald Trump: Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer. The third judge, Stanley Marcus, was first nominated to a federal district court by President Ronald Reagan and then was nominated to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where he currently sits, by President Bill Clinton.

“We do not lightly intrude in state affairs, but our previous review of the undisputed evidence left us in no doubt that Alabama’s legislatively enacted plan (the ’2023 Plan’) intentionally discriminated based on race in violation of the Constitution,” the panel said. “Our re-examination in light of Callais yields the same conclusion. We again cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than intentionally discriminatory.”