The Supreme Court blocked a state judge from redrawing Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ (R-N.Y.) congressional district, agreeing to her emergency request Monday to restore the lines that connect Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn.
The high court’s intervention marks a new twist in the legal battle that has rippled through New York’s state judiciary and thrown the future of New York’s 11th Congressional District into question. It marks a victory for Republicans, who had been bracing for the possibility that the district would swing to Democrats if it was redesigned ahead of the midterm elections.
A state judge had ordered the boundaries be redrawn after ruling the district dilutes Black and Latino voting strength in violation of the state constitution.
The Supreme Court granted Malliotakis’s emergency application to block that ruling as the litigation proceeds, effectively restoring her existing district lines for the midterms.
The ruling appeared to split along ideological lines, with the three liberal justices publicly dissenting. Justice Samuel Alito voted in Malliotakis’s favor, saying the state judge’s order “blatantly discriminates on the basis of race,” while the other conservatives did not publicly disclose their votes.
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