The NYCLA President’s Statement Supporting Alabama District Court Congressional Districting Plan Ruling

NYCLA President’s Statement Supporting Alabama District Court
Congressional Districting Plan Ruling

New York, New York – The New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) President, Ronald C. Minkoff, today issued this statement on Alabama’s congressional district plan ruling:

As President of the New York County Lawyers Association, I applaud the May 26, 2026 decision of a federal three-judge panel that requires Alabama to use in 2026 the same remedial Congressional districting map with two Black opportunity districts that was used at the court’s direction in 2024. 

The three-judge panel was responding to the May 11, 2026 Supreme Court vacatur of the court’s judgment mandating the map’s use in the 2026 election, Singleton v. Allen, 782 F. Supp. 3d 1092 (N.D. Ala. 2025), and requiring reconsideration of Singleton in light of Louisiana v .Callais. The panel responded so quickly because the Supreme Court vacatur order was issued in the midst of Congressional primary elections being conducted under the remedial map.

The three-judge panel set forth extensive evidence of how Alabama had intentionally discriminated against Black voters and violated both the equal protection provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Acts as discussed under standards set forth in Louisiana v. Callais. Finally, the court showed, as required by Purcell v. Gonzalez, 549 U.S. 1 (2006), the absence of any convincing evidence that it is necessary to allow Alabama to pivot, in the middle of an election, to the alternative plan that the court rejected as discriminatory.

We thus urge the Supreme Court to uphold the use of the remedial districting plan in the midterm 2026 elections and show our continued national commitment to protecting one of our most basic rights, the right to vote free from racial discrimination.

About the New York County Lawyers Association
The New York County Lawyers Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as one of the first major bar associations in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

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This statement has been issued by the President. It has not been reviewed by NYCLA‘s full Board of Directors and does not necessarily represent its views.