In Jefferson County, Judge Madeline H. Haikala recently ruled that its current commission map violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Jefferson is the biggest county in Alabama. And with the current map, the majority of its Black voters have been crammed into just two districts out of the seven.
“Because the 2021 plan violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against racial gerrymandering, the Court permanently enjoins the Commission and its agents from using the 2021 plan in Jefferson County Commission elections,” Haikala wrote in her ruling.
In 2023, a lawsuit was filed accusing the Jefferson County Commission of illegally redistricting residents and limiting the influence of Black residents in the remaining districts. With the current ruling, the judge has given the county 30 days to develop a new map for reconsideration…