Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan, the Alabama redistricting case testing whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act required Alabama to draw a second majority-Black congressional district. NAACP LDF Litigation Director Deuel Ross argued for plaintiffs, opening with the line "There is nothing race-neutral about Alabama's map." Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar appeared as amicus for the United States in support of plaintiffs. Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour defended the map, arguing that race-conscious remedies themselves violated the Equal Protection Clause.