Alabama Defied a Court Order to Draw a Second Black District. The Supreme Court Let Them.

Alabama Drew a Map the Court Blocked Twice

In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Allen v. Milligan that Alabama’s congressional map diluted Black voting power in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Alabama’s population is 27% Black. The state had drawn one majority-Black district out of seven, or 14%.

27% of the population. 14% of the districts. The Supreme Court ordered Alabama to draw a second Black-opportunity district in 2023. Alabama refused and drew a map a federal court called “intentional race-based discrimination.”

Alabama’s legislature responded by passing a new map in 2023 that a three-judge federal panel found was “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination.” The panel called it “not a close call.” The court blocked the map and appointed a special master to draw one with two majority-Black districts.

On June 2, 2026, the Supreme Court reinstated Alabama’s blocked map in an unsigned 6-3 order. All six conservative justices signed. The order sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of Louisiana v. Callais, the April 2026 ruling that gutted Section 2 of the VRA.

Sotomayor: “Rewarding Alabama’s Gamesmanship”

Justice Sotomayor, joined by Kagan and Jackson, wrote that the majority “debases the democratic process by upending Alabama’s entire election in the name of permitting Alabama to discriminate against Black Alabamians.”

She said the ruling “corrodes the rule of law by rewarding Alabama’s gamesmanship and outright defiance of court orders.” The lower court had found the map violated the 14th Amendment through intentional discrimination, a finding Sotomayor argued was “independent of and unaffected by” Callais.

Voting had already begun when the order came down. Alabama’s special primary is scheduled for August 11 in congressional districts 1, 2, 6, and 7 under the reinstated map. Roughly 600,000 registered voters across three counties will be reassigned.

Callais Reversed the Legal Framework

In 2023, the Supreme Court said Alabama’s map violated the VRA and ordered a fix. In April 2026, the court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that Section 2 of the VRA does not require states to create majority-minority districts. Justice Alito wrote that “race ordinarily cannot be a districting criterion.”

Alabama’s attorney general Steve Marshall celebrated the Callais ruling, saying it vindicated the state’s position. The state then asked the Supreme Court to restore the 2023 map the lower court had blocked twice as discriminatory.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which represented the Alabama voters in Allen v. Milligan, said the court “is allowing Alabama to use a redistricting map that the Court already ruled 3 years ago intentionally assigned voters to districts based on race.”

What You Can Do Now

Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The bill would restore the effects test that Callais destroyed and require federal preclearance for states with histories of discrimination.
If you are in Alabama, check whether your congressional district changed at your county election office. The special primary is August 11. Registration deadlines apply.
Support litigation. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Campaign Legal Center are challenging redistricting maps in multiple states. The legal fight continues even after the stay.
Track every state. Alabama is not alone. Georgia’s special redistricting session is June 17. South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana are all redrawing maps. See our full VRA district impact brief for the state-by-state breakdown.