SCOTUS Rejects Alabama's Redistricting Proposal

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Facts

• On Tuesday, SCOTUS rejected Alabama’s bid to keep its GOP-drawn congressional map that included only one majority-Black district, ensuring that the state will likely have a second Black district for the 2024 elections.¹
• In rejecting Alabama’s emergency bid to approve its proposed map, SCOTUS doubled down on its June ruling that affirmed a lower court order for Alabama to redraw its seven-seat congressional map to include a second majority-Black district to reflect the state’s 27% Black population.²
• The decision allows a court-appointed special master to continue working on a new congressional map. On Monday, he put forth three proposals that included two districts with majority-Black populations that comply with the court’s decision.³
• A three-judge panel is set to hear the proposals for the boundaries of the new District 2 which would have 48.5% to 50.1% Black voters. The Republican proposal had a Black population of 39.9% and was unanimously rejected by the panel.⁴
• In June, SCOTUS rejected Alabama’s proposal, with Chief Justice John Roberts claiming that the map violated the Voting Rights Act. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh reluctantly joined the majority in the 5-4 division.⁵
• Tuesday’s decision came with no dissents or additional reasoning.⁶

Sources: ¹Abc news, ²CNN, ³Associated Press, ⁴Yahoo news, ⁵USA Today and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Vox. The conservative Supreme Court actually did something positive and stood up to Alabama’s assault on voting rights – again. SCOTUS already upheld lower court decisions that require Alabama to give fair representation to its Black citizens, but the state’s Republicans did everything they could to ignore the decision and disenfranchise Black voters. The court’s decision is a great victory for democracy and equality, and brings some light to a region that has been plagued with discrimination and voter suppression.
• Republican narrative, as provided by The heritage foundation. This decision to enforce racial quotas in congressional redistricting defies prior decisions by the court’s very same justices and only reinforces the idea that race is the most important part of a citizen’s identity. While it's unsurprising that the court’s liberal wing rules in favor of any decision that gives more power to the Democratic party, it is very surprising to see level-headed Justices like Roberts and Kavanaugh completely disregard their judicial philosophy.