Supreme Court Rules on Texas Congressional Redistricting

[jimrtex]

On a 5-2-2 vote, (Kennedy, Stevens, Breyer, Souter, and Ginsburg v. Scalia and Thomas) maintained Bandemer decision that there might be a judiciable standard for defining an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, though none has been found in the 20 years since the original decision.

On a 5-4 vote, (Kennedy, Roberts, Alioto, Scalia, and Thomas vs. Stevens, Breyer, Souter, and Ginsburg) rejected claims of an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

On a 7-2 vote (Kennedy, Roberts, Alioto, Scalia, Thomas, Souter, and vs. Stevens and Breyer) rejected claims that use of census data for re-districting purposes violated one man, one vote, if used for a voluntary re-districting.

On a 5-4 vote, (Kennedy, Stevens, Breyer, Souter, and Ginsburg vs. Roberts, Alioto, Scalia, and Thomas vs. ) found that District 23 (Henry Bonilla's San Antonio-El Paso-Laredo district violated Voting Rights Act.

On a 5-4 vote, (Kennedy, Roberts, Alioto, Scalia, and Thomas vs. Stevens, Breyer, Souter, and Ginsburg) rejected claims of Voting Rights Act violation with respect to District 24 (Martin Frost's former district in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area).

In ruling against District 23, the court noted that Bonilla had been receiving less Hispanic support, and pointed to the 2002 election when Henry Cuellar had nearly beaten him.   They ignore the fact that Cuellar carried Webb County 32K to 6K, but in 2004 Bonilla carried the part of Webb still in his district, 13.5K to 9.5K.

The implied remedy would seem to move Cuellar out of the district he was elected from into Bonilla's district, leaving an opening for the twice-defeated Ciro Rodriguez to return to Congress.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Basically the 5 partisan Republicans on the court ruled that a mid-decade partisan Republican gerrymander is OK. What a surprise.

I suppose the silver lining is that perhaps Rodirguez can re-claim his seat. If Cuellar is a smart Democrat, he'd run against the Republican in the next district over. However, he doesn't seem to be a smart Democrat.

[jimrtex]

I suppose the silver lining is that perhaps Rodirguez can re-claim his seat. If Cuellar is a smart Democrat, he'd run against the Republican in the next district over. However, he doesn't seem to be a smart Democrat.

He doesn't face a Republican opponent in his current district, and he was defeated by the Republican candidate in the next district over.

[opebo]

The Supreme Court is, as always, jfern, a partisan political institution.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I suppose the silver lining is that perhaps Rodirguez can re-claim his seat. If Cuellar is a smart Democrat, he'd run against the Republican in the next district over. However, he doesn't seem to be a smart Democrat.

He doesn't face a Republican opponent in his current district, and he was defeated by the Republican candidate in the next district over.

Well, he can choose between losing to Rodriguez in the primary or possibly losing to that Republican in the general election.

[Nym90]

State legislatures have far better things to do than redistrict every 2 years when control shifts hands. Redistricting should be in the hands of nonpartisan committees and done by a mathematical process; it shouldn't be a function of directly elected officials who have something to gain by the outcome of the process.

All in all I think this is a poor decision as it will make our elections far less competitive and thus reduce democracy. Not to mention the wasted time of redrawing lines that could be spent on, um, actual political issues of importance to people's lives.

[jimrtex]

State legislatures have far better things to do than redistrict every 2 years when control shifts hands. Redistricting should be in the hands of nonpartisan committees and done by a mathematical process; it shouldn't be a function of directly elected officials who have something to gain by the outcome of the process.

All in all I think this is a poor decision as it will make our elections far less competitive and thus reduce democracy. Not to mention the wasted time of redrawing lines that could be spent on, um, actual political issues of importance to people's lives.

The redistricting in Texas made most districts more competitive, with both contested primaries and general elections.

[Downwinder]

State legislatures have far better things to do than redistrict every 2 years when control shifts hands. Redistricting should be in the hands of nonpartisan committees and done by a mathematical process; it shouldn't be a function of directly elected officials who have something to gain by the outcome of the process.

All in all I think this is a poor decision as it will make our elections far less competitive and thus reduce democracy. Not to mention the wasted time of redrawing lines that could be spent on, um, actual political issues of importance to people's lives.

I agree with ever word.  Another horrible, horrible Supreme Court decision.

[Q]

Kennedy is the swing justice now.  A lot of 5-4 decisions on the horizon.

[WMS]

The court ruled 7-2 that state legislators may draw new congressional maps anytime — not just once a decade as Texas Democrats had claimed and has been traditional nationwide. That means any state's lawmakers can push through new maps anytime there is a power shift in the Legislature.

I hope there's a lot of this happening in the future, so perhaps people will realize how f***ing idiotic it is to have politicians drawing their own districts. I want to see how abusive the parties can get towards each other. Go chaos!

I can not say I hope a lot more of this happens, but I agree with your basic sentiment. I'd just like to see people realize how f**king stupid it is without having to endure more of it - unrealistic as that hope might be.

And with the blessing of the SCOTUS, let the madness start.

And let the madness be bipartisan. Cheers!

I said this in the U.S. General Discussion thread, and I'll say it here as well.

I find the outrage a bit...selective. Both sides on every one of these split decisions were highly partisan, left and right alike. When has it ever not been that way?

Everyone should stop being such partisan hacks about this and just enjoy the potential chaos.

[zorkpolitics]

Kennedy is the swing justice now.  A lot of 5-4 decisions on the horizon.

Agreed, Bush needs one more pick to make the court a consistently, predictably conservative.