Alabama Congressional Redistricting Challenge (SCOTUS)

This lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of voters, Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP challenging Alabama’s new congressional map drawn with 2020 census data. The complaint alleges that race was the predominant factor used to draw districts without a compelling VRA or other governmental interest in violation of the 14th Amendment. Specifically, the complaint argues that Black voters were “packed” into the 7th Congressional District and “cracked” among three other districts in order to avoid drawing a second district where Black voters could elect their candidate of choice. A three-judge panel was appointed to hear the Milligan plaintiffs’ claims (since they brought a constitutional challenge to the map), which blocked the use of the map and ordered the creation of a new map that contains two majority-Black districts in order to comply with the VRA. The state went to the U.S. Supreme Court via its shadow docket asking it to pause the lower court’s order, which the court granted. This means that Alabama’s previously blocked map with only one majority-Black district will be in place for the 2022 elections. The Milligan plaintiffs’ 14th Amendment claim is not before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawsuit filed on behalf of multiple Black Alabama voters challenging the state’s new congressional map drawn with 2020 census data. The lawsuit argues that the new map intentionally dilutes the voting strength of Black Alabamians by only creating one majority-Black district when a second one could also be drawn in violation of Section 2 of the VRA, which prohibits any law that is intended to or results in the “denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” A preliminary injunction was granted by a district court judge (compared to the Milligan plaintiffs, the Caster plaintiffs were only before one district court judge, who was simultaneously part of the three-judge panel hearing Milligan) that blocked the use of the map and ordered the creation of a new map that contains two majority-Black districts in order to comply with the VRA.  

While the state’s appeal in Caster would normally go through the standard appeals process, due to the overlapping nature of the claims with Milligan, it also wound up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Learn more about how redistricting cases wind up before the court here.

Both the Milligan and Caster parties argue the current map dilutes the voting power of Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the VRA, which prohibits vote dilution. They argue that the plan dilutes the electoral strength of Black Alabamians by “packing” Black voters into the 7th Congressional District and “cracking” Black voters among three other districts in order to avoid drawing a second district where Black voters could elect the candidate of their choice. The Milligan and Caster parties attest that the district court correctly established that Alabama’s electoral processes are “not equally open” to Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the VRA. Oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court was held on Oct. 4, 2022.