WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s liberals, including new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, strongly defended the Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, arguing that Alabama should be required to draw election maps that give Black voters a chance at equal representation.
The court faces a showdown this term over whether race may be considered in drawing election districts or for college admissions to improve equality and diversity, or whether considering race for any reason is illegal.
The court’s conservatives, in a 5-4 vote, intervened for Alabama in February and blocked judges who required the state to draw a second congressional district with a near majority for African Americans. About 27% of the state’s population is Black, but only one of its seven districts has elected a Black candidate.
