Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters, orders voting maps to be redrawn
FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Branch of government. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama, with two conservative justices joining liberals in rejecting a Republican-led effort to weaken a landmark voting rights law.Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined with the court's liberals in affirming a lower-court ruling that found a likely violation of the Voting Rights Act in an Alabama congressional map with one majority Black seat out of seven congressional districts in a state where more than one in four residents is Black.
The state now will have to draw a new map for next year's elections.The decision was closely watched for its potential effect on control of the closely divided U.S.
House of Representatives. Because of the ruling, Republican-led legislatures in Alabama and Louisiana will have to redraw maps so that they could increase Black representation.The outcome was unexpected in that the court had allowed the challenged Alabama map to be used for the 2022 elections — and in arguments last October the justices appeared willing to make it harder to challenge redistricting plans as racially discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.FILE - Plaintiff Evan Milligan speaks to members of the press after the oral argument of the Merrill v.
Milligan case at the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4, 2022 in Washington, DC. ( Alex Wong/Getty Images)The chief justice himself suggested last year that he was open to changes in the way courts weigh discrimination.
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