Last summer, a Jenner & Block team filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court on behalf of computational redistricting experts in support of Black voters in Allen v. Milligan. In a 5-4 decision earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided that the map adopted by Alabama for its 2022 congressional elections violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a huge win in protecting minority voting rights. Even though Black residents constitute more than 27% of the state’s total population, the map created a congressional delegation with only one majority Black district out of seven, diluting Black voices and votes.
In the opinion, the Chief Justice relied heavily on Jenner’s amicus brief, quoting it repeatedly to bat away Alabama’s arguments. In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh also harked back to the brief when discussing the proper role for algorithmic redistricting. The brief received so much coverage that Justice Alito, in his dissent, complained that in rejecting Alabama’s position, “the Court relies entirely on an amicus brief submitted by three computational redistricting experts in support of the appellees.…”
The team was led by Partners Sam Hirsch and Jessica Amunson and Associate Mary Marshall. They represented amici Dr. Daryl R. DeFord, Dr. Amariah Becker, and Dr. Dara Gold, computational redistricting experts. Sam Hirsch was recently featured on Law 360’s podcast to further explain the stakes of the case and the implications of the majority opinion: The Term: The Voting Rights Act Survives. What's Next? - Law360
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