Three-judge panel reinstates injunction blocking Alabama's 2023 congressional map, finds intentional racial discrimination even under new Callais standard

A three-judge federal district court panel reinstated its injunction blocking Alabama from using its 2023 legislature-drawn congressional map on May 26, 2026, one day after the Supreme Court sent the case back for reconsideration following Louisiana v. Callais. The panel unanimously found that even under the new Callais intentional-discrimination standard, Alabama's 2023 map was the product of deliberate racial discrimination. The panel documented that the legislature set a racial target, drew districts in knowing defiance of Allen v. Milligan, and explicitly protected a white community based on its 'French and Spanish colonial heritage' at the expense of the Black Belt.