Anxious to learn more, details still sketchy.
I'm fine with this as long as the Supreme Robes are consistent when it comes to gerrymandering.
Fox News reporting that this is a win for Delay....only a small part of the plan stricken......waiting to see/hear more...
Conflicting reports coming out. One agency characterized it as overturning most of it, another said part of it, another said mostly upheld.
Given the media's track record, I'm betting on the last interpretation. We'll know shortly.
The Supreme Court, splintering widely, on Wednesday found an insufficient claim of partisan gerrymandering in the Texas congressional redistricting. It also rejected a challenge to mid-decade congressional redistricting. It did not rule on whether all partisan gerrymander claims are beyond judicial review. The Court is split on that issue, and the division remains. It found the new District 24 invalid under the federal Voting Rights Act.
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2006/06/decisions_4.html
The present logic of the Supreme Court, dating back to the Baker decision, suggests that we should do away with geographic districts altogether and organize districts around ethnicities, religions, and income groups.
And that will complete the Balkanization of the country.
McVey
The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out part of a Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents out of office.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Hispanics do not have a chance to elect a candidate of their choosing under the plan.
Republicans picked up six Texas congressional seats two years ago, and the court's ruling does not seriously threaten those gains. Lawmakers, however, will have to adjust boundary lines to address the court's concerns.
At issue was the shifting of 100,000 Hispanics out of a district represented by a Republican incumbent and into a new, oddly shaped district. Justices had been told that was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voting rights.
AP:
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out part of a Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.
The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents out of office.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Hispanics do not have a chance to elect a candidate of their choosing under the plan.
Republicans picked up six Texas congressional seats two years ago, and the court’s ruling does not seriously threaten those gains. Lawmakers, however, will have to adjust boundary lines to address the court’s concerns.
At issue was the shifting of 100,000 Hispanics out of a district represented by a Republican incumbent and into a new, oddly shaped district. Justices had been told that was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voting rights.
Republicans had said the new map better reflected the voting patterns of the state and denied that minority voting rights were violated.
The map in question was steered through the Legislature by DeLay, who left Congress June 9 amid legal and ethical troubles, some stemming from the redistricting fight.
The new map gave Texas its first congressional delegation with a Republican majority since Reconstruction. The delegation has 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Under the previous boundaries, Democrats dominated 17-15.
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
Hmmm. Maybe Republicans can create the required Hispanic district by carving up a Democratic stronghold and in the process create another Republican seat.
This is a near 100% victory for the 'Pubs. They keep the same number of districts in Republican hands. Let's see how quickly the MSM revisits the Dem jackals running away to Oklahoma. Seems to me this ruling highlights these antics as nothing more than sour grapes.
This would seem to keep reporters out of Gitmo if the courts rule that Gitmo is the same as the US.
On a different issue, the court ruled that state legislators may draw new maps as often as they like - not just once a decade as Texas Democrats claimed. That means Democratic and Republican state lawmakers can push through new maps anytime there is a power shift at a state capital.The Constitution says states must adjust their congressional district lines every 10 years to account for population shifts. In Texas the boundaries were redrawn twice after the 2000 census, first by a court, then by state lawmakers in a second round promoted by DeLay after Republicans took control.
That was acceptable, justices said.
Letting nine robes run our nation.........
Who voted for them?
I'd say it's a Republican win, although it will allow the crooked Democrats more opportunity to drag their feet, delay, and obfuscate, instead of having the matter settled.
Frankly, I think the racial balance law was unconstitutional. What the constitution says is that all men are created equal under God. One man, one vote.
There's nothing in the constitution saying that one race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, or degree of polical correctness should be privileged over another. Blacks and Hispanics are not inferior; neither are they superior. We are all Americans together, or should be.
Splitting up districts in order to give some to blacks and some to Hispanics is divisive, plain and simple. It feeds into Democrat practices of splitting and dividing the country and keeping designated minorities on their plantations.
All this happened under Lyndon Johnson, when he made the most regretable decision in modern politics and turned the civil rights movement into a Democrat plantation movement. What the Democrats gained by that cynical move, blacks lost.
A part of my job is to do quality control on construction. Whenever I look at a bathroom tile, the tile guy always leaves one tile askew, right at eye level, right next to the door. The idea is that I will walk in, see that tile, and tell him to fix that one, and walk out.
Of course, it does not work with me. I get pissed off about the obvious attempt to manipulate me, and go over the rest of the tile with a fine tooth comb. After a while, you would think the tile guys would catch on that this is not a good idea with me, but they never do.
I would imagine that if you were doing redistricting, the crooked tile theory would hold. Make one district so outrageous, with such an obvious solution, that the courts will tell you to fix that one, and leave the rest alone.
Hopefully they were very careful to preserve the voting rights of illegals.