For Alabama Republicans, it was another courtroom loss in a redistricting fight that has dragged on for years. For Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), it was one more reminder that the battle for fair representation still has a long way to go.
A three-judge federal panel ruled Tuesday that a Republican-drawn congressional map in Alabama was unconstitutional, finding that state legislators had deliberately designed district lines to discriminate based on race.
The map would have eliminated one of the state's two majority-minority districts, a move that critics argued was a straightforward attempt to hand Republicans a congressional seat ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Rep. Crockett, who has emerged as one of the more outspoken voices in Congress on voting rights, responded sharply on X.
"Three federal judges stepped in and blocked Alabama Republicans from using yet another congressional map designed to weaken Black representation," she wrote. “Republicans need to spend less time trying to dilute Black voting power and more time doing the jobs they were elected to do."
Alabama's Response
Attorney General Steve Marshall (R-AL) didn't back down, announcing the state would appeal directly to the Supreme Court. "Know this—in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when," he said.
The ruling is the latest development in a years-long legal standoff. Alabama Republicans previously defied a federal court order, one later affirmed by the Supreme Court, requiring the state to draw a second district where Black voters held meaningful electoral power.
Legislators refused, drew a map that fell well short of that standard, and eventually had a court-imposed map used against them in the 2024 elections.
However, Alabama is not alone. Several Republican-led Southern states have moved aggressively to redraw congressional boundaries following a Supreme Court decision that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act, clearing a path toward dismantling majority-minority districts across the region.
"The fact that Black voters are still having to fight this hard for fair representation in 2026 is outrageous,” Crockett concluded.
