Clarence Thomas Orders Alabama Voting Rights Groups to Defend Court-Drawn Map

Justice Clarence Thomas declined to immediately restore Alabama's 2023 legislature-drawn congressional map on Wednesday but ordered voting rights plaintiffs to explain by Monday why the map should not be reinstated. The case centers on a lower court ruling that required Alabama to use a court-approved special-master map, which created a second Black-opportunity district and helped elect Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures in 2024. Alabama's Republican attorney general requested emergency relief, arguing the lower court's decision defied the Supreme Court's April ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which narrowed the interpretation of a key Voting Rights Act provision. The dispute is part of a years-long redistricting battle that intensified after the Supreme Court's April decision, which Republicans have used to challenge maps favored by Democrats. The 2023 map was initially blocked after the Supreme Court upheld a challenge to Alabama's 2020 census-drawn map, leading to the implementation of the special-master map that reshaped the state's 2nd District and flipped a GOP-held seat to Democratic control.