Federal judge panel: Only U.S. Supreme Court can approve Alabama’s new Congressional districts

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – A panel of three federal judges says it doesn’t have the authority to allow Alabama to use the new Congressional district map that the Alabama Legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey have approved, and only the U.S. Supreme Court can grant that permission.

That is the reason the three-judge panel rejected the State’s request for a stay of an earlier ruling that says Alabama cannot change its Congressional districts until after the 2030 Census.

The panel is made up of U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco of Alabama’s Northern District and U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer of Alabama’s Southern District.

Photo from the Office of Secretary of State Wes Allen

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen had requested the stay in his official capacity as the head of the State’s elections.

In response to Allen’s request, the judges said:

“Under these precedents, we have no authority to grant a stay. The Secretary has appealed the permanent injunction that he now asks us to stay, and his appeal is pending in the nation’s highest court. If we were to consider the substance of his request for a stay, we would have to weigh arguments that go to the heart of his appeal—arguments about what the Constitution, Section Two, Callais, and other binding precedents prohibit and allow. As things now stand, only the Supreme Court has the authority to address the substance of those arguments and resolve them.”

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to use the Congressional district map the Legislature has approved. It was drawn up following the 2020 Census, but rejected by the federal courts, which said the State must create a map to allow Black voters a chance to elect a second Black U.S. representative in addition to Congresswoman Terri Sewell. The courts created a new map that led to the election of Black Democrat Shomari Figures in a newly-redrawn 2nd Congressional District in 2024.

Photo from the Office of Attorney General Steve Marshall

If the U.S. Supreme Court allows Alabama to return to the map passed in the legislature, Figures would be vulnerable in his re-election bid because the 2nd District would favor a Republican.

There is no indication when, or if, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a decision on Marshall’s request. If nothing happens, Alabama will keep the court-drawn map for this year’s elections and Figures would have a greater chance at being re-elected. The district currently includes part of Mobile, all of Montgomery and stretches east to west across our part of the state.

If the U.S. Supreme Court allows the district lines to be changed, Gov. Kay Ivey will likely call a special election for Congressional districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 as well as for State Senate districts 25 and 26, which also had lines changed by the courts. Those districts cover Montgomery County and affect Democratic State Sen. Kirk Hatcher and Republican State Sen. Will Barfoot.

The May 19 primaries will go on as scheduled regardless of any U.S. Supreme Court action.

This is happening because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week involving Louisiana. In the case of Louisiana v. Callais, The court struck down a Black-majority Congressional district in that state on the grounds that race was too large of a factor in how it had been drawn up. Republicans in Alabama are using that decision as the basis for changing the maps.

Alabama Republicans hope to regain the 2nd Congressional District seat. Because the split in the U.S. House of Representatives is so close between Republicans and Democrats, every seat matters in who will have control following elections this year across the country. Members of both political parties nationwide are attempting to get as many seats as possible through redistricting this year to give themselves an advantage in the November general election.

READ: Federal Judge Panel Response to State of Alabama