AUSTIN -- The U.S. Justice Department Friday rejected the state House redistricting plan adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Board, saying the plan violates the voting rights of Hispanics in South and West Texas.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Ralph F. Boyd Jr. advised the state of the decision in a letter to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.
The House plan was adopted 3-2 in July by the Legislative Redistricting Board, five top state officials charged with drawing new maps for the state Senate and House of Representatives after the Legislature failed to do so.
One of the board members, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, drew the original map. Two other members, Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander and Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, amended it before the trio voted it into law. All three are Republicans.
The other two LRB members, House Speaker Pete Laney, a Democrat, and Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, a Republican, voted against the plan for redrawing the state's 150 House districts.
The LRB map would have given Republicans substantial control of the Texas House after the 2002 election. Democrats now hold a 78-72 majority.
In its session this year, the House approved a map for its own redistricting, but the plan never was voted on by the state Senate.
The Justice Department rejection of the LRB map could be significant to the considerations of a three-judge federal court panel now reviewing the House map. The department's action means there now is no official state plan before the court, increasing the likelihood that the judges will draw their own.
In a congressional redistricting case decided earlier this week, the federal court showed it is not inclined to change the political status quo in Texas by judicial fiat. Under that plan, which probably will be used in next year's elections, U.S. representatives likely can be re-elected, even though districts were adjusted to accommodate population growth measured in the 2000 Census. Texas is gaining two seats, bringing the delegation to 32.
The state House map was subject to Justice Department review because Texas falls under the Voting Rights Act. The department previously approved the LRB's plan for the state Senate, which is now under consideration by the three-judge panel.
The department reviews political maps to make sure they do not eliminate minority legislative districts.
Boyd said the plan violates minority voting rights by eliminating Hispanic districts in Bexar and Cameron counties, as well as in District 35 in South Texas and District 74 in West Texas, without creating offsetting gains elsewhere.
He also said the LRB packed Hispanics into several other districts. He said if those voters had been spread more evenly, at least two South Texas Hispanic districts would not have been lost.
Despite rejection of the map as a whole, Cornyn claimed victory because the Justice Department did not object to the remaining portion of the LRB's House map. He said he plans to propose some changes to the federal court.
"I am pleased that the Department of Justice has approved 98 percent of the House plan," Cornyn said. "I am confident that the department's letter can be fully addressed with minor alterations to three districts, and I look forward to presenting them to the court next week."
A spokesman for Rylander said she had not yet read the Justice Department letter and did not want to comment. Dewhurst, Ratliff and Laney were traveling and unavailable for comment.
The Mexican-American Legislative Caucus praised the action.
"John Cornyn's map was a disservice to Hispanics throughout the state," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, caucus chairman. "This clears the way for the federal courts to draw a new plan that protects the voting rights of Texas Hispanics in accordance with the law."
Gallego said he was pleased that a Justice Department run by Republicans "did the right thing" by rejecting a map drawn by Texas Republicans.
Nina Perales, a lawyer representing the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said it is impossible to know how the federal court will react to the ruling.
She said Laney's lawyers will argue that the court should now turn to the plan passed by the House with his support, while Cornyn will argue that simple repairs to the LRB map are all that are needed.
"We're pleased because we're not going to be put into the position of losing districts," Perales said. "Now the question is whether we are going to gain seats."