The Supreme Court voted last Monday to allow Alabama to redraw its district lines in a way that will reduce the power of Black voters to elect representatives in the state, at least for this year. After the Republican-controlled government announced its redistricting plans, the redrawn state district map prompted groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund to sue, arguing that the new map constituted illegal racial gerrymandering. A federal court agreed with the reasoning behind the suit and paused the redistricting process, but the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, reversed the ruling of the lower court. Alabama’s Republican-controlled government can therefore go ahead with its plans to redraw the state’s district lines.
