Alabama leaders push to lift Supreme Court redistricting ruling

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen and Attorney General Steve Marshall filed emergency motions Thursday afternoon seeking to lift injunctions on three Alabama redistricting cases.

The move comes just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that Louisiana’s 2024 election map, which created a second majority-Black congressional district, had relied too heavily on race.

The motion seeks to lift the Supreme Court’s 2023 injunctions blocking Alabama from using its 2021 congressional map, which the Court ruled had intentionally diluted the voting power of Black Alabamians.

The decision in Milligan v. Allen led to the formation of a second majority-Black congressional district now represented by Congressman Shomari Figures.

Alabama elected leaders speak out

Marshall claimed that the injunctions cannot survive the court’s ruling on Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais.

The Attorney General filed the motions in three key redistricting cases: Allen v. Singleton, Allen v. Milligan, and Allen v. Caster.

“The Supreme Court has now made clear that you cannot assume race and politics are the same thing, you have to actually show they’re separate,” Marshall said. “Because the lower court’s injunction cannot stand in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, we have asked the court to lift the injunction. Alabama deserves the right to use its own maps, just like every other state.”

Wes Allen also requested that the court expedite the process of lifting the injunctions in the aftermath of the Louisiana ruling.

“As the appellant in Alabama’s redistricting case, I have taken the legal measures necessary, in cooperation with Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall to ask the US Supreme Court to take quick and decisive action which will allow Alabama to pursue congressional maps that reflect the will of the people,” he said. “It is my hope that our right as Alabamians to draw districts will be swiftly restored and that the days of court appointed mapmakers will be behind us.”

Gov. Kay Ivey released a brief statement expressing support for the move by the two state officials.

“I applaud Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State Wes Allen for quickly filing emergency motions at the Supreme Court regarding Alabama’s redistricting case,” she said. “As I have said time and again, Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups. I remain hopeful that Alabama receives a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court.”

Milligan v. Allen plaintiff speaks out

Shalela Dowdy, one of the plaintiffs in Milligan v. Allen, said she was not surprised by the ruling, but she was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s shift.

“I hope [elected leaders] keep in mind that our state population is 27 percent Black and so having these two seats is necessary for us to have fair representation,” said Dowdy. “I don’t understand how this moves us forward, it actually takes us back. It takes us back to less representation, less engagement from our elected officials, and less of us having seats at the table.

Status of Alabama’s congressional map

Last August, a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled that Alabama must continue to use the court-ordered congressional map that created the second majority-Black district.

Before the Milligan v. Allen ruling and the court-drawn map, Alabama Republicans held six of the state’s seven congressional district seats.

The court also denied a request to require that any changes to the state’s map in the future be approved first by the U.S. Department of Justice in a process known as federal preclearance. The DOJ was opposed to such a requirement.

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