Supreme Court Steps Into Texas Redistricting Fight

The Supreme Court on Friday night announced that it will hear oral argument to consider the constitutionality of Texas redistricting plans drawn up by a lower federal court.

A three-judge panel in San Antonio put forward its own interim redistricting plans over Thanksgiving weekend. It determined that the Texas legislature failed to adequately account for the state's increase in Hispanic residents when redrawing its state and federal voting districts. The Supreme Court has now stayed those plans and ordered an expedited briefing schedule in advance of oral argument on Jan. 9.

When the 2010 census reported an increase of 4.2 million Texans, the Texas legislature was required to redraw the state's voting districts to comply with the federal Constitution's one person-one vote command. But civil rights groups challenged the redrawn districts for both houses of the state legislature as well as the United States House of Representatives. They claimed that the new maps drawn up by the Republican-controlled legislature violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the votes of 2.8 million Hispanics who have moved to Texas since 2000.

Under the Voting Rights Act, Texas and most other Southern states, counties and townships with histories of race-based voter suppression have to clear any changes to their election procedures with the Department of Justice or a three-judge court in D.C. Texas had submitted its plans to the D.C. panel, which had yet to make any decision on the state's compliance with the landmark civil rights law, when the San Antonio panel -- finding the maps too flawed for use in the approaching state primary elections -- threw out the plans and replaced them with plans of its own.

The Court's action on Friday comes in response to the Texas attorney general's request last week for Justice Antonin Scalia, who oversees the federal courts in Texas, to block the redistricting plans.

The expedited schedule set by the Court reflects the time-sensitive nature of the cases, Perry v. Perez and Perry v. Davis, which will require a decision from the justices in time for the state's primaries in March.

Comments

[Cacey]

08:08 PM on 12/11/2011

Perry keeps bragging about the number of people moving from California, New York and Illinois to Texas. He has guaranteed the state will be Blue.

[Eris23Skidoo]

04:37 PM on 12/11/2011

The only way republicans can "win" is by rigging the elections and that is why they cheat.

[randyjet]

12:27 PM on 12/11/2011

Since I am a Texan, I was appalled at the blatant gerrymandering the last legislature did to unfairly boost the GOP. I hope that even conservatives on the SCOTUS will change the districts so that we can have free and fair elections. I won't be holding my breath thought.

[Hector Boag]

10:53 AM on 12/23/2011

Then you must remember Pres. Johnson. More dead folks in Texas voted for him than living registered voters. Democrats are not angels either.

[randyjet]

11:17 AM on 12/23/2011

You forget that ALL those Democrats who did that are NOW REPUBLICANS! While I know Dems have done bad things in the past, at least NOW the Democratic party in Texas is the liberal party, and as such is FAR more honest and decent than the GOP! It should give pause that all the crooks, KKKers, and segregationists are Republicans now. Voting for them is to promote the kind of corruption that you decry. It should also disturb you that the GOP GUV was promoting session too. I don't think the current GOP is the one of Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. It used to be the GOP was the most progressive party, and now it is reactionary, and close to being fascist in many of their supporters.

[Ulalume s Ague]

09:03 AM on 12/11/2011

If we made all voting districts by a grid with the exact same number of people in each square, there would be twelve Republucans in Congress.

[Eris23Skidoo]

04:40 PM on 12/11/2011

Unfortunately, the "grid method" will never work since on some squares of that grid there will be urban areas (with many residents) and rural areas (with few). Given that on some squares you'd have a city and on others farmland, if you use a grid you will wind up making the rural votes count as if each voter got more than two votes apiece while the urban voters' votes count for half a vote.

[Ulalume s Ague]

11:59 AM on 12/12/2011

Hence I used the phrase-- " exact same number of people in each square". My point is that any successful effort to create a one-person-one-vote system would overwhelmingly favor more progressive candidates, which is why Republicans and conservatives are always fighting any efforts to ensure voting rights-- in fact, Republicans create obstacles to voting, pretending that there is wide-spread voter fraud among the voting public-- when there isn't. Most of the voting fraud that takes place today is by Republicans. I mean, how could Bush get 50,000 votes in a small community of 5 thousand people in Ohio back in 2004?

[BlairCase]

05:07 PM on 12/11/2011

Texas tried the grid system but it didn't work because the Justice Department forces states to take race and ethnic groups into consideration. Districts have to be gerrymanded to create districts in which minorities comprise the majority of voters.

[Cacey]

08:04 PM on 12/11/2011

Do what CA and AZ have done, CA with more success, and have the redistricting taken out of the hands of the Legislature and put into the hands of independent citizens.

[Ulalume s Ague]

12:01 PM on 12/12/2011

This is of course a response to widespread voter intimidation of those minorities over many, many decades in the south. I'm pretty sure and grid with equal numbers of people in each square would pass muster. I don't believe iot has been tried. If I am wrong, please direct me to any informative links that are trustworthy.

[warmandcaringperson]

08:23 AM on 12/11/2011

The voting rights act should have been ended years ago.

[Ulalume s Ague]

09:01 AM on 12/11/2011

Yeah. Who needs voting rights? I mean, let's just let Republicans decide for everyone and dispense with elections altogether.

[Eris23Skidoo]

04:44 PM on 12/11/2011

Sure, because that way republicans could finally ensure that no minorities vote and they'd have a chance of winning an election. You do realize that in EVERY cycle since the voting rights act was enacted, in some district in America, there has been at least one incident of republicans trying to prevent non-whites from voting. In EVERY cycle for at least fifty years.

And by the way, what possible negative outcome has resulted from the Voting Rights Act? Is there some unintended consequence you'd like to point to or is your problem with the Voting Rights Act the fact that it prevents, in many cases, republicans from suppressing the votes of American citizens?

[davegstein]

08:17 AM on 12/11/2011

I think the repubifrauds have finally figured out a solution to our employment problem.They'll just keep doing what their doing,the resulting necessity for civil rights attorneys,paralegals and such will fill all those jobless slots....

[Hillbilly49]

05:34 AM on 12/11/2011

Right wing republicans have been disenfranchising minority voters and working Americans since the reign of Richard M. Nixon. Redistricting for republicans isn't simply wanting an advantage in future elections; they want to make sure that republicans seize power in every election by stacking the deck so no one else can ever win.

[goodmarina]

12:31 AM on 12/11/2011

One of the biggest targets of the Redistrcting madness is US Congressman Lloyd Doggett - a liberal Democrat from Austin, TX.    He has challenged the insanity of Texas' Republican politics long enough ... and even had the nerve to put that provision in the stimulus money that went for States' education ... where the provision called for the $$ to be used ONLY towards education (imagine that?)

The Republicans have been hacking up Blue Districts left and right.  Take, for example, Doggett's district --  they carved it out in a way that not only put large Latino and African American voters (from Austin) who'd be represented by someone living 100 miles away ...  they also tried to pit Doggett against other Democrats from San Antonio ... with the eventual hope of eliminating Doggett's seat altogether.

Further - it dilutes the voice of the Minority voters ... by purposefully carving out large sections of these voting blocks (making them the smaller voice) and sticking them with large White majority districts.  

Talk about hacking up the Constitution's true intention of We The People and representative government! 

As a Texan I am painfully aware that my Liberal voice may never be heard by an all-Republican controlled government.   But, as an American, I am mad as he!! ... and yes - i live in Lloyd Doggett's district and am proud to call him my Congressman.

[wolfml1]

11:10 PM on 12/10/2011

Pennsylvania Districts need redrawn also, so they are coherent and comply with the PA Constitution.

[dagmaclugh39]

10:16 PM on 12/10/2011

Who's to vote for in Texas, anyway?

[The Anti-Con]

11:28 PM on 12/10/2011

The south Texas area called the Rio Grande Valley is blue so they want to hack it up in order to make that last bit of democratic area repug...

[Cacey]

08:06 PM on 12/11/2011

When you look at all the major cities in Texas, they are blue.

[aforbes808]

08:34 PM on 12/10/2011

Carnac says. Supreme failure.

[Scruffyboo2]

08:16 PM on 12/10/2011

I predict that the "fascist five" will do whatever it takes to favor the Republicans ... any takers?

[realpolitic]

07:54 PM on 12/10/2011

Thank God for the Voting Rights Act, which Republicans claimed was no longer necessary when it was up for renewal a few years ago due to their argument that discrimination was a thing of the past. It was created to ensure our national pasttime of 'one person, one vote' enshrined in the constitution would be honored and ensure in practice that the Hispanic vote would not diluted in Texas by being gerrymandered into the same district. I mean, if Hispanics keep migrating to Texas then the entire state may just turn Democratic and then Karl Rove's head would explode.

[RSGmusic]

08:08 PM on 12/10/2011

Good post

lived in texas the last 14 years.

[realpolitic]

08:52 PM on 12/10/2011

Thanks so much! Go Dallas Mavericks!!

[goodmarina]

12:35 AM on 12/11/2011

thanks for the insightful post!

as a Texan i say you are spot on!!  

F & F

[realpolitic]

12:44 AM on 12/11/2011

Thanks so much and have a nice evening!!!

[Sal Gomes]

07:17 PM on 12/10/2011

Maps should be drawn so that certain groups are guaranteed a certain outcome. Doesn't seem like the American Way to me.

[ema123]

09:03 PM on 12/10/2011

Its not, its the GOP way

[Sal Gomes]

08:32 PM on 12/17/2011

The GOP (whom hates blacks and browns and anyone who isn't lily white, right?) draws maps so the candidates of those they don't like win seats? I ain't bein no edumacated rockit sighintist but that don't make no cents to me.

[iknowscottyknows]

07:15 PM on 12/10/2011

People illegally in the country should not be included in redistricting. Though here illegally they should not have access to the voting booth. But the left rarely cares about the Constitution if disobeying the can garner a vote.

[demimckingwoodtx]

07:53 PM on 12/10/2011

You don't have a clue of what you're talking about, this is about people who has a legal right to vote in this country!

[PurpleGuy]

08:10 PM on 12/10/2011

They don't ... they're happy to live in the shadows, keep to themselves and support their families, and not have to show any ID, especially in order to vote. You obviously are clouded in your opinion by bigotry and hatred. Redistricting to dilute the voting strength of minorities is unconstitutional, period.

[questiontheblogs]

08:02 AM on 12/11/2011

Certainly not unconstitutional at all, it may violate a federal law (yet to be determined), but not the constitution. Gerrymandering has been going on since the founding of our Country.