The Milligan case was specifically about Alabama’s congressional district map, though it has broad implications for the entire country. Under the Voting Rights Act, all 50 states and all U.S. localities are required to consider voting rights for voters of color when drawing legislative districting plans. Alabama has some of the most racially polarized voting in the United States. In Alabama, this means when districts are gerrymandered in ways where white voters make up substantial majorities in those districts, candidates preferred by white voters almost always win by blocking the preferred candidate of Black voters.
In 2021, Alabama’s state legislature redrew its congressional map to have six districts that gave white voters substantial power to elect candidates they prefer; and only one district where Black voters had the chance to elect candidates of choice. Those suing the map successfully argued that Alabama…