Judge declines to rule on Democrats' redistricting lawsuit

The Dallas Morning News ^ | August 27, 2003 | Associated Press

[hoaxbuster1]

Yeh---like Perry and Dewhurst are going to give the RATS 72 hour notice...

[Theodore R.]

Kazen is a rare federal judge, it seems, for he was willing to forego a decision by himself and pass the issue to a higher court. Most federal judges, such as Myron Thompson in AL, can't wait to issue rulings that thwart the freedom of the people.

Yet, Kazen said Perry and Dewhurst should give the Democrats 72 hours notice before calling a third special session.

Clearly this suit seems outside the realm of a federal court.

[Diddle E. Squat]

The judge knows that the Dems have zero case, but he pulls a delaying tactic by trying to pass it on to the 3-judge panel.

Remember, the Dems think that if they can run out the clock a few more weeks, any redistricting plan won't be able to get Justice Dept approval in time to be used in '04.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Naw, Hazen is just another complicit Dem hack. Delaying tactic.

[CA Conservative]

And the judge has no authority to order it, or he obviously would have. So the Dems got what they said they wanted (a three-judge panel), but not what they really wanted, which was an order that would allow them to come back to Texas without getting arrested. And remember that the 5th Circuit is pretty conservative, so they will probably wind up with 2 Republican appointed judges in addition to the Dem judge already assigned to the case.

[Theodore R.]

Well, wouldn't a Democrat hack just rule entirely as the Democrat attorneys suggested, regardles of the likelihood of being overturned by the circuit court? Surely, he is Democrat. Like Myron Thompson, he was appointed to the bench by Jimmy Carter, one year before Thompson.

[CA Conservative]

Remember, the Dems think that if they can run out the clock a few more weeks, any redistricting plan won't be able to get Justice Dept approval in time to be used in '04.

Ahh, but if and when the Dems return, the Republicans can vote to move the date for the congressional primaries back as far as they want, even until September 2004 if necessary. Without the 2/3 rule in effect, the Dems will be unable to stop it. So they would have to stay out until about May of 2004 for that to work.

[hillaryisalesbo]

I say they slap them with ankle bracelets the moment the DIMS come back in the state.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't the current proposed Texas redistricting map done by another court?

[justshutupandtakeit]

Thanks for posting this. I have been wondering what the RATS were doing. Of course, there is total silence from the national RAT/media about this attempt to thwart democracy.

[deport]

Judge shopping only bought the suggestion of a '72 hour notice'....... lol

[Petronski]

Several of the Democrats had planned to travel from Albuquerque to the courtroom but changed their minds about midnight because they feared arrest in Texas....

....sources in Austin told the Democrats that the Senate sergeant-at-arms was in position in Laredo to arrest them and because they had heard that several senators had been called back to the Capitol after the Legislature adjourned Tuesday to convene another session.

"There was very clearly a plan to arrest us in Laredo. Now whether that's done by saying senators, come over here, we've got to go to Austin or get in the back of that car, whatever the mechanism was, there was a plan to get us detained," Shapleigh said.

Wow, they seem awfully adept at surviving on the lam....experienced, even.

[deport]

but wasn't the current proposed Texas redistricting map done by another court?

---

The current districts that are in place now were drawn by a three judge panel in 2001 after the legislature failed to accomplish redistricting in their 2001 session. Gov. Perry stated he wouldn't call special sessions at that time so the only option left was the courts....

[deport]

Kazen is a rare federal judge, it seems, for he was willing to forego a decision by himself and pass the issue

Sounds like the judge is playing the fiddle as the democrats want it played.... delay.... delay..... delay.... hoping to get to the time frame beyond which filing dates are in play thus districts can't be redrawn for the next election..... He thinks VRA doesn't apply but just in case lets send it over for a panel to review.... that should take up a good month or two.....

U.S. District Judge George Kazen said he doesn't think the Voting Rights Act applies in the case, but the issues raised by the 11 senators have enough merit to refer the case to the larger group of judges.

[Theodore R.]

But this lawsuit has little bearing on the dilemma of Perry and Dewhurst, who are being outsmarted by the eleven Albuquerque Democrats. They need what the liberals call "an exit strategy." I would imagine that they would be afraid politically to seize Zaffirini and Van de Putte and bring them back in chains to the Senate floor. It would make the day of both of those ladies were such done! They would become national martyrs for the party.

[Between the Lines]

"Surely, he wouldn't be that stupid," Van de Putte said. "That would exactly prove our point (which) is they will trap us, they will do anything whether it's unethical or immoral to try and please partisan Republicans."

What is unethical or immoral about enforcing rules that have been in place for years? These same rules were in place when the Dems were the majority and it didn't seem to bother them then.

Senate rules allow for the arrest of members who intentionally thwart a quorum.

[freedomcrusader]

Then how come they haven't come back?

[deport]

But this lawsuit has little bearing on the dilemma of Perry and Dewhurst, who are being outsmarted by the eleven Albuquerque Democrats.

---

Some smarts........ being exiled from their home state and afraid to come back..... lol

[Theodore R.]

But the Albuquerque Eleven will hold out as long as needed before Perry and Dewhurst have no recourse other than to drop redistricting. I suspect that they will be honored at the 2004 Democrat National Convention with a special salute for perseverance.

Staying away from TX is not a real sacrifice for them, for their party is their god. Well, that is overstating the case. But these Democrats believe that they are pleasing God by pleasing their party.

[Theodore R.]

They haven't come back, as I see it, because they are determined to win -- they will wait out Perry and Dewhurst. They will be like the Viet Cong, slow, patient, persistent, a winner even if they lose a few battles along the way. To a Democrat, victory means everything. To a Republican, victory is "nice" but not usually expected.