{"id":86,"date":"2026-05-26T21:13:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2026-05-26T21:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:13:04","slug":"federal-court-blocks-new-alabama-congressional-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=86","title":{"rendered":"Federal court blocks new Alabama congressional map"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A federal court blocked Alabama from using its new congressional map in this fall\u2019s elections, ruling Tuesday that it is still \u201cintentionally discriminatory\u201d against Black voters.<\/p>\n

Read more South Carolina lawmakers turn aside redistricting push<\/a><\/p>\n

The from a three-judge panel to grant a preliminary injunction adds to the legal drama around the state\u2019s redistricting efforts, part of a flurry of fast-moving court fights that already includes a trip to the Supreme Court and rescheduled primary elections.<\/p>\n

Alabama officials earlier this month asked the Supreme Court to clear the way to use a legislature-approved map known as the 2023 plan, which this panel of judges had found illegally and unconstitutionally discriminated against Black voters.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court set aside that ruling and sent the case back to the three-judge panel, saying the panel should reconsider it in light of a decision in a separate Supreme Court case that invalidated a Louisiana congressional map with a second district designed to allow a Black minority to elect a minority-preferred candidate.<\/p>\n

After a hearing Friday, the panel ruled Tuesday that the state\u2019s new congressional map, which mirrored one passed by the legislature in 2023, was still discriminatory. The panel found the map violated both the Voting Rights Act and 14th Amendment to the Constitution after a trial last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,\u201d the ruling said.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s order blocked the state from using the 2023 plan for this fall\u2019s elections. In a statement Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he was \u201cdisappointed, but not at all surprised\u201d by the ruling and said the state would appeal to the Supreme Court. Marshall called the situation \u201cfluid\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow this \u2014 in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

The order also separately set a trial for next year on the full legality of the map.<\/p>\n

The new map would have one Black majority district and six white majority districts. The judges ruled that plan unconstitutional and directed the state to use a previous court-approved map which has two Black opportunity districts.<\/p>\n

Under the prior court-approved map, which was used in the 2024 elections, the state has two Democrats and five Republicans in the House.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s order the three judges noted that blocking the implementation of the new plan would not substantially disrupt preparations for elections this year. The order noted that until earlier this month, all the candidates were campaigning under the prior map and many voters are still in the state\u2019s election systems under the prior map.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump tests midterm coattails with visit to Lawler\u2019s \u2018Harris district\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court ruling earlier this month allowed the state to proceed with a new congressional map. The state held a primary for three unchanged congressional districts on May 19 and Gov. Kay Ivey announced an August primary for the four changed districts in the new map.<\/p>\n

The three-judge panel decision also noted that the Supreme Court\u2019s opinion in the Louisiana case did not substantially change the legal issues surrounding the Alabama map. The state still drew the map with the intent to dilute the power of Black voters \u201cat least in part because they were Black.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe again cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than intentionally discriminatory,\u201d the decision said.<\/p>\n

The three-judge panel held that even under the tighter standard the Supreme Court laid out in the Louisiana case for Voting Rights Act claims, the state still violated the law.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the three-judge panel held the state\u2019s map still violated the Constitution, especially because of pretextual arguments about keeping Gulf Coast communities together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reach this conclusion with great reluctance and dismay and even greater restraint \u2014 only after another exhaustive analysis of an extensive record, as the Supreme Court\u2019s remand order and its precedent instructs us,\u201d the order said. \u201cWe reject in the strongest possible terms the State\u2019s attempt to finish its intentional decision to dilute minority votes with a veneer of legislative regularity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s congressional map has been in litigation for almost five years, after initially drawing a map with a single Black majority district.<\/p>\n

Several groups of voters and civil rights groups sued, arguing the Voting Rights Act required an additional congressional district where Black voters could elect a candidate of their choice.<\/p>\n

Initially the three-judge panel agreed, as did the Supreme Court in a 2023 decision. The judges then imposed the plan that was used in 2024.<\/p>\n

Separately the state abandoned its initial 2021 plan and adopted the new plan in 2023. That plan was then reinstated after the Supreme Court\u2019s Louisiana decision and was the subject of Tuesday\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

Read more Hantavirus, Ebola highlight political division over disease<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal court blocked Alabama from using its new congressional map in this fall\u2019s elections, ruling Tuesday that it is still \u201cintentionally discriminatory\u201d against Black voters. The unanimous decision from a three-judge panel to grant a preliminary injunction adds to the legal drama around the state\u2019s redistricting efforts, part of a flurry of fast-moving court […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campaigns"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal court blocks new Alabama congressional map - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=86\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal court blocks new Alabama congressional map - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A federal court blocked Alabama from using its new congressional map in this fall\u2019s elections, ruling Tuesday that it is still \u201cintentionally discriminatory\u201d against Black voters. 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