A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of Alabamans suing their state over delays in processing their unemployment claims, holding that Alabama’s procedural rule had the effect of “immunizing” the state against the lawsuit in an unusual “catch-22.”
The unemployed residents allege their claims languished in the state’s system following the COVID-19 pandemic. They sued in state court under one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights laws, Section 1983, alleging Alabama’s slow administrative procedure violated their constitutional right to due process.
