US Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s Bid to Use Congressional Map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Alabama Republicans’ second bid to use a congressional map that includes one majority-black congressional district.

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. (Front L–R) Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito and Justice Elena Kagan. (Back L–R) Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from Alabama Republicans to use a congressional map that includes one majority-black congressional district.

Tuesday’s one-line court’s decision leaves intact a Sept. 5 decision by a federal three-judge panel in Birmingham, Alabama, which said the map approved by the state’s Republican-led legislature to set the boundaries of Alabama’s seven House of Representatives districts was unlawfully biased against black voters and must be redrawn.