A federal court is trying to pull a judicial mulligan after the Supreme Court gave Alabama another shot at using its GOP-backed congressional map.
The Supreme Court threw out a lower-court order barring Alabama from using the congressional map the state adopted in 2023 and sent the dispute back to the lower court for another look. But a three-judge federal panel again blocked Alabama from using that map for the 2026 midterms.
The panel claimed the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling in Louisiana v. Callais did not change its earlier conclusion that Alabama’s map was intentionally discriminatory against black voters.
“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the ruling said.
The practical result is that a lower federal court is attempting to keep alive the very kind of judicial redistricting fight SCOTUS appeared to rein in. Rather than treating the Supreme Court’s ruling as a course correction, the panel doubled down on its original conclusion.
Alabama could still appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
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