Supreme Court Must Choose Between Stopping Racist Gerrymandering or Abandoning Black Voting Rights
Source: Alexis Romero, Mark Joseph Stern. "This Alabama case will test the Supreme Court like nothing else recently has.." May 26, 2026. slate.com
The Gist
Alabama keeps drawing voting maps that discriminate against Black voters, and even conservative federal judges keep striking them down. Now the Supreme Court has to decide whether to stop this obvious racism or let states get away with anything when it comes to Black voting rights.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court will be forced to either draw the line at overtly racist gerrymandering or admit that it has declared open season on Black Americans' political representation
Premises
- A three-judge federal court (including two Trump appointees) has repeatedly ruled that Alabama's congressional maps illegally discriminate against Black voters
- Alabama has systematically ignored court orders and continued creating maps with only one majority-Black district despite having one of the largest Black populations of any state
- The Supreme Court's recent Callais decision weakened the Voting Rights Act but claimed not to permit intentional racial discrimination
- Alabama's actions demonstrate a coordinated, cynical strategy to disenfranchise Black voters through timing manipulation and bad faith compliance
- The lower court found Alabama's discrimination violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection guarantee, which remains intact even after Callais
- Alabama's last-minute gerrymandering attempts create administrative chaos while trying to exploit the Purcell principle to avoid judicial review
Assumptions
- The Supreme Court cares about maintaining its institutional credibility and authority
- Repeated lower court findings by conservative judges carry significant weight
- There is a meaningful distinction between weakening voting rights generally and permitting overt racial discrimination
- The 14th Amendment provides independent protection against racial gerrymandering beyond the Voting Rights Act