Late Monday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower federal court ruling that would have required the Alabama Legislature draw a second Democrat-leaning congressional district.
The 5-4 ruling allows maps drawn in a special session of the Alabama Legislature last year to stand, which likely keeps Alabama’s congressional mix at six Republicans and one Democrat.
The conservative majority said a three-judge panel lower court decision that would have required the Yellowhammer State to create a second majority-minority district came too close to the 2022 election cycle. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in dissent.
The lower court ruling made by U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer last month came as Alabama was approaching its May 24 primary date and came within days of the political…
