WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed a major victory to Black voters who challenged a Republican-drawn electoral map in Alabama, finding that the state violated a landmark federal law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.
The 5-4 ruling affirmed a lower court's decision that the map diluted the voting power of Black Alabamians, running afoul of a bedrock U.S. civil rights law, the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the ruling, which was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the court's three liberal members Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
With Thursday's ruling, the Supreme Court elected not to further roll back protections contained in the Voting Rights Act as it had done in two major rulings in the past decade. The decision centered upon Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a provision aimed at countering measures that result in racial bias in voting even absent racist intent.
"We find Alabama's new approach to (Section 2) compelling neither in theory nor in practice," Roberts wrote. "We accordingly decline to recast our (Section 2) case law as Alabama requests."
At issue was the map approved in 2021 by the Republican-controlled state legislature setting the boundaries of Alabama's seven U.S. House of Representatives districts. The map featured one majority-Black district, with six majority-white districts, even though Black people comprised 27% of the state's population. The lower court ordered Alabama to configure a second House district where Black voters could hold a majority or close to it.
The Voting Rights Act was passed at a time when Southern states including Alabama enforced policies blocking Black people from casting ballots. Nearly six decades later, race remains a contentious issue in American politics and society more broadly.
Conservative states and groups had previously succeeded in prodding the Supreme Court to limit the Voting Rights Act's scope. Its 2013 ruling in another Alabama case struck down a key part that determined which states with histories of racial discrimination needed federal approval to change voting laws. In a 2021 ruling endorsing Republican-backed Arizona voting restrictions, the justices made it harder to prove violations under Section 2.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in February 2022, had let Alabama use its disputed map for the U.S. congressional elections in November in which Republicans narrowly regained control of the U.S. House.
In the ruling on Thursday, two consolidated cases before the Supreme Court involved challenges brought by Black voters and advocacy groups accusing the state of violating Section 2.
The challengers said Alabama's map reduced the influence of Black voters by concentrating their voting power in one district while distributing the rest of the Black population in other districts at levels too small to form a majority.
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The 5-4 ruling affirmed a lower court's decision that the map diluted the voting power of Black Alabamians, running afoul of a bedrock U.S. civil rights law, the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the ruling, which was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the court's three liberal members Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
With Thursday's ruling, the Supreme Court elected not to further roll back protections contained in the Voting Rights Act as it had done in two major rulings in the past decade. The decision centered upon Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a provision aimed at countering measures that result in racial bias in voting even absent racist intent.
"We find Alabama's new approach to (Section 2) compelling neither in theory nor in practice," Roberts wrote. "We accordingly decline to recast our (Section 2) case law as Alabama requests."
At issue was the map approved in 2021 by the Republican-controlled state legislature setting the boundaries of Alabama's seven U.S. House of Representatives districts. The map featured one majority-Black district, with six majority-white districts, even though Black people comprised 27% of the state's population. The lower court ordered Alabama to configure a second House district where Black voters could hold a majority or close to it.
The Voting Rights Act was passed at a time when Southern states including Alabama enforced policies blocking Black people from casting ballots. Nearly six decades later, race remains a contentious issue in American politics and society more broadly.
Conservative states and groups had previously succeeded in prodding the Supreme Court to limit the Voting Rights Act's scope. Its 2013 ruling in another Alabama case struck down a key part that determined which states with histories of racial discrimination needed federal approval to change voting laws. In a 2021 ruling endorsing Republican-backed Arizona voting restrictions, the justices made it harder to prove violations under Section 2.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in February 2022, had let Alabama use its disputed map for the U.S. congressional elections in November in which Republicans narrowly regained control of the U.S. House.
In the ruling on Thursday, two consolidated cases before the Supreme Court involved challenges brought by Black voters and advocacy groups accusing the state of violating Section 2.
The challengers said Alabama's map reduced the influence of Black voters by concentrating their voting power in one district while distributing the rest of the Black population in other districts at levels too small to form a majority.
US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed a major victory to Black voters who challenged a Republican-drawn electoral map in Alabama, finding the state violated a landmark law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting and paving the way for a second congressional district...
