Supreme Court Approves Redrawn Texas Congressional Electoral Boundaries.
Through a per curiam order, the nation's top court cleared the way for Texas to use a redrawn congressional map that is projected to include up to five additional GOP-friendly districts. The six-to-three order, released on Thursday, upholds a request by the state to overturn a federal judge's ruling that had rejected the redistricting plan in November.
Court's Reasoning
The lower court improperly inserted itself into an ongoing primary campaign, creating considerable confusion and upsetting the fine equilibrium in elections, the supreme court said in explaining its ruling.
The federal court had previously found that Texas had probably sorted voters based on their race – a method known as illegal race-based districting – when it enacted the new maps. It had mandated the state to use the boundaries drawn after the last decennial survey for the forthcoming election.
Strong Dissent
Through a sharply worded dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan took issue with the majority's action. She contended that it undermined the work of the district court, pointing out that its decision was crafted by a judge selected by former President Donald Trump.
While our court is superior in jurisdiction, we are not superior in making these fact-intensive determinations, Kagan stated in a dissent joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Kagan added, Today's ruling ensures that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its enhanced favoritism, will dictate next year's elections. And it means that many Texas residents, unjustly, will be grouped in electoral districts due to their race. And that result, as this court has pronounced year in and year out, is a breach of the law of the land.
Countrywide Redistricting Struggle
The court's action occurs during a national contest over the redistricting of electoral maps. Texas is an essential part in campaigns to transform the U.S. House map to bolster a fragile Republican majority. Typically, boundary revision takes place after a new decade's census. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to proceed with a bold off-cycle redistricting earlier in the summer triggered a wave among other states.
GOP lawmakers in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted redistricting plans that are estimated to yield a number of additional conservative seats. The opposition, in response, have countered with new maps in including California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those potential gains.
Partisan Reactions
The Texas AG hailed the High Court's decision. In a statement, he said the order protected Texas's prerogative to draw a map that guarantees representation favorable to Republicans. Our state is leading the charge to reclaim the nation, one district and one state at a time, he stated.
Conversely, Democratic representatives criticized the outcome. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the chair of a major Democratic election organization.
A top Democratic figure stated the court had yet again shredded its legitimacy by upholding a race-based map. The ruling demonstrates a willingness to subvert democracy. This Texas plan is a partisan, racially biased scheme to undermine voter will, especially in communities of color, he concluded.
