Attorney General Steve Marshall has submitted an amicus brief in support of the Jefferson County Commission’s appeal concerning its redistricting maps. The district court had previously barred the Commission from using the maps drawn after the 2020 census, finding them to be a racial gerrymander. The challenged map maintained similar boundaries to those adopted by the Commission in 1993, 2001, and 2013, which had received approval from the Department of Justice.
In October, the Eleventh Circuit allowed the Commission to use its current map for the 2026 election while an appeal is underway.
Marshall contends that the district court made an error by assuming, without evidence, that racial targets influenced the drawing of districts instead of presuming good faith on behalf of the Commission. “The U.S. Supreme Court has been clear that courts must presume that a legislative body acts in good faith. The district court ignored that rule and created a problem that doesn’t exist,” Attorney General Marshall said. “The presumption that state and local officials act for legitimate rather than discriminatory reasons is vital because, without it, courts are transformed into weapons of political warfare. That is exactly what happened here.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr joined Marshall in submitting this brief.
