Three-judge panel blocks Alabama's post-Callais map on 14th Amendment grounds

A unanimous three-judge federal panel blocked Alabama from using its 2023 congressional map in the 2026 elections, finding it violated the 14th Amendment regardless of the Callais ruling's effect on VRA Section 2 claims. The panel wrote it "cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination." The court reinstated the special master remedial map with two Black opportunity districts, which Alabama had used in the 2024 elections and May 2026 primaries. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall immediately announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.