Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen could be held in civil contempt for his recent legal efforts to allow the state to use its 2023 congressional map after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Attorney U.W. Clemon filed a motion with the Northern District of Alabama Tuesday, asking the court to compel Allen to show why he should not be held in contempt.
The request stems from Allen and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asking the Supreme Court last week to expedite its consideration of lifting injunctions that prevent Alabama from changing its map before the 2030 census.
In the wake of a landmark Supreme Court redistricting decision last week that weakened a key part of the Voting Rights Act, Alabama Republicans have moved swiftly to find a path that would allow them to use a map that a federal court found to be racially discriminatory. Should the 2023 map be used, it could give the GOP an additional seat in Congress.
“By his Motion to Expedite, Secretary Allen willfully and knowingly repudiated the unequivocal representation he made to this Court just last year that he would not challenge on appeal the duration of the Permanent Injunction requiring him to use the Special Master’s Plan for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 congressional elections,” the motion reads.
The federal judges subsequently said that Allen must respond to the motion to show cause for his actions by 5pm on Thursday.
Clemon and other attorneys argue that Allen’s recent redistricting moves violate a 2025 court order that required him and any future secretary of state to use the 2024 map drawn by a special master through 2030 elections.
The motion also notes that the court ruled last year not to impose a preclearance requirement on Alabama for its voting practices because of the state’s promise that it would not change the congressional maps.
The secretary of state’s office did not respond to Alabama Daily News’ request for comment.
Clemon is a longtime civil rights attorney in Alabama and served as the state’s first Black federal judge.
The Alabama Legislature is in the middle of a special session this week to approve special 2026 primary elections for some congressional districts, if the court allows the state to use its 2023 map this year.