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Alabama’s top law enforcement officer filed a Supreme Court challenge aimed at overturning a prior ruling that limited Republicans in decennial redistricting, after a recent Louisiana case raised questions about how the court previously ruled there.
Louisiana’s “Callais” ruling struck down the state’s map, including districts centered on New Orleans and a narrow majority-minority corridor from Baton Rouge. Alabama leaders said the decision conflicts with or calls into question Supreme Court precedent affecting their state by requiring racial factors to be considered when drawing congressional districts.
“Now they have a framework for Alabama to directly defend what the legislature did both in 2021 and 2023,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, telling Fox News Digital he was “thrilled” to see where the court came down on “Callais” at the end of April.
“And that is, drawing maps based on historical redistricting principles that now I think Callais makes clear were constitutional exercises of that authority,” Marshall said, highlighting SCOTUS’ analysis that race should not predominate when drawing congressional districts.
SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR
“And then unlike Louisiana, which was able to get direct relief through that decision, we now have to be removed from the injunction [against Alabama’s prior map] by the three-judge panel in order to either go back to the map that is being challenged or give the legislature the authority to draw a new map.”
A previous Supreme Court ruling, Allen v. Milligan, invalidated Alabama’s prior redistricting effort, with critics saying the decision wrongly weighted racial factors in creating what became a second Democratic-favored district in the ruby-red state.
If Alabama is able to get out from under Milligan, it could have national implications for Democrats’ attempts to gain enough seats in…
