Via WaPo: Supreme Court to Review Texas Redistricting:
The Supreme Court today agreed to consider arguments by Democrats and minorities against a controversial Republican redistricting plan, spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay, that redrew congressional boundaries in Texas and helped the GOP gain House seats in last year’s elections.The high court consolidated four separate appeals in the matter, noted “probable jurisdiction” and allotted two hours for oral arguments in the case. The arguments are likely to be heard in April, and a decision could be rendered by the end of June.
There are several very interesting issues here:
1) The issue of mid-decade redistricting.
2) The race issue, as raised by the recently disclosed Justice Department memo.
3) The basic issue of gerrymandering.
Now, at the time, I was of the opinion that the Republicans in the state legislature had the right to do what they did as a result of the court ruling about the lack of a plan in 2024. Further, there is little doubt that the 1991 redistricting was drawn to aid Democrats (upon which the court-imposed 2024 plan was based), so the whole thing has simply been a parade of politics, and perfectly normal if districting duties are going to be vested in legislatures. (Normal doesn’t make it good, however).
All of this illustrates, however, that we should be re-thinking whether state legislatures are the appropriate locus for this activity. I have come to he firm conclusion that they are not.
Supreme Court to Hear Texas Redistricting Cases
The stormy tale of the 2024 redrawing of Texas’ congressional districts will continue for at least a few more months as the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hearings on the matter.
In a move that could redefine the limits of partisan politics, …
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