A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Jefferson County, Alabama, to redraw its county commission districts after ruling the 2021 map unconstitutional because race was the predominant factor in drawing lines. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala found that the plan overly packed Black voters into two districts even as Black residents comprise about 40% of the county population. The decision permanently enjoins the county’s five-member commission and its agents from using the 2021 map in elections and sets a 30-day clock for a remedial redistricting plan to be proposed.
In her ruling, Haikala said the Fourteenth Amendment protects against racial gerrymandering and that the county did not offer sufficient evidence to justify the higher share of Black voters necessary to ensure Black residents could elect the candidates of their choice. The court noted that the results could be different if such evidence existed, but the plaintiffs had not provided it.
The decision stems from a 2023 lawsuit alleging the county packed Black voters into two districts while attempting to maintain a fixed racial balance in the remaining three districts. Jefferson County, the state’s largest by population, includes Birmingham, the center of Alabama’s largest metropolitan area, and serves as a major economic engine for banking, healthcare and related industries in the region.
Cara McClure, executive director of Faith and Works Statewide Civic Engagement Collective and lead plaintiff, welcomed the order and said it opens the door for a map that fairly considers voters’ rights. County Attorney Theo Lawson said the county is reviewing the order to determine next steps and will work with plaintiffs to develop a remedial redistricting plan within the deadline.
The civil rights group NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which aided the suit, noted that the existing plan relied on a racial ratio among districts that did not align with Voting Rights Act protections. Kathryn Sadasivan, assistant counsel for the LDF, said the case raises broader concerns about how districts are drawn to preserve racial balance rather than voters’ ability to influence elections.
Jefferson County has a long Civil Rights history, including the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four girls. Since then, the county has evolved into a corporate hub, with banking and medical sectors contributing to its economy as debates over representation and resources continue in the region. The judge’s order leaves open how the final map will be drawn, but it makes clear that any approach must ensure Black voters have an equal opportunity to participate in elections and to influence their representation.