By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
A U.S. appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday halted a federal court judge’s order that could have shifted the Jefferson County Commission from a majority Republican to a Democratic majority.
In September, Federal Judge Madeline Haikala ruled Jefferson County’s 2021 districting plan violated the Fourteenth Amendment and could not be used in future elections.
The 2-1 decision from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that ruling noting that the county would have only three weeks to redraw maps because candidates must live in their districts for one year before Election Day on Nov. 3, 2025. The order is stayed pending appeal.
“We appreciate the Court granting a stay and understanding our concerns,” said Jefferson County Attorney Theo Lawson. “We look forward to presenting our side of the case on appeal.”
The ruling does not permanently block redistricting but means Jefferson County will likely use current district boundaries for next year’s elections.
The stay appeared to be tied to timing.
Judge Elizabeth L. Branch and Judge Robert J. Luck, writing in the majority opinion for the Appeals Court, warned courts against changing election rules close to an election.
“The post-briefing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20, 2025, which is only two weeks before the deadline for candidates to establish residency… No electoral map is currently in place and the district court has not provided a date by which a remedial redistricting plan will be approved,” Branch and Luck wrote.
“The district court’s injunction, given its timing, will create confusion and hardship… because there is no electoral map in place mere weeks before the… November 3 residency deadline. The district court’s scheduling order calls for a potential hearing on October 20, with any remedial redistricting plan to follow at an undetermined date. That schedule leaves, at most, two weeks until the November 3 residency deadline. Given the current posture, compliance with this deadline is nearly impossible.”
The majority pushed back on claims that a stay would confuse voters.
“But the plaintiffs vastly overstate the voter confusion that will result from a stay maintaining the status quo … And they understate the diminished public confidence resulting from a last minute remedial redistricting announcement,” Judges Branch and Luck wrote.
Last month, Judge Haikala ordered the county to develop a “remedial redistricting plan” within 30 days “because the 2021 plan violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against racial gerrymandering.”
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF), along with several law firms, filed a lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of Cara McClure and several others challenging the County Commission districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Plaintiffs in the McClure v. Jefferson County Commission case argued that the commission’s current five-district map in Alabama’s most populous county illegally packed Black voters into districts 1 and 2 and unfairly diluted their influence elsewhere.
Currently, the county commission districts are made up of 1 and 2 which are mostly Black and Democrat; and 3, 4 and 5 which are mostly white and Republican.
That’s likely to remain the same for the 2026 Jefferson County elections.
