Judge declines to rule on Democrats' redistricting lawsuit

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

[MeekOneGOP]

And thanks for posting this ! ...

[SolidSupplySide]

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.

The Bullock Precedent only applies to redistricting. I think you'd have a lot of angry Republicans if the Senate tried to apply it to setting primary dates.

[KQQL]

[Dog Gone]

"The agreement we've made is your lawsuit is not wholly frivolous," Kazen told Renea Hicks, a lawyer representing the Democrats.

But Judge Kazen didn't explain which part is not frivolous. He dissed both of their claims.

Well, it looks like the Rats have bought two more weeks of stalling before they're slapped down again.

[Dog Gone]

"I'm not stupid," Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston said in Albuquerque.

He is such a liar.

[The_Victor]

Read a little further down in the Comical article...

The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division on Tuesday told the state that the "two-thirds rule" is an internal Senate procedure and the agency would not consider the change in procedure as something that had to be reviewed under the Voting Rights Act.

It looks like the democRATs are getting resounding bitchslapped on every front.

[CA Conservative]

The Bullock Precedent only applies to redistricting.

Actually, if you read the editorial written by Dewhurst (posted on another thread here), you will see that the 2/3 rule has been suspended at least 20 times in the past 50 years, and only a few of those times were for redistricting. Also, Perry could make redistricting and changing the primary date part of the same special session. If there is no blocker bill in place, each piece of legislation is addressed in the order it emerges from committee. In that case, the Dems would need a 2/3 majority to KEEP the bill from being debated, by voting to take up another piece of legislation instead.

[writmeister]

And we must keep in mind that Theodore R. is reporting to us from South Texas. It would be hard not to be pessimistic if you lived in the RAT heartland.

[Coop]

:-)

[Dubya]

Thanks for the ping.

[MeekOneGOP]

He is such a liar.

He is rude as HE** too !! ...

This is one of the Texas Chicken D's holed up in Albuquerque, N.M. He calls the fines 'Poll Taxes' and RUDELY hogs the conversation with this radio show host, then HANGS UP on him !!

G-r-r-r-r-r !!

Unbelievable Conversation with Senator Rodney Ellis
by Greg Knapp 08-13-2003
You’ve GOT to hear this to believe it ! (13 min., 47 sec)
http://mrgrumman.home.comcast.net/GregKnapp-Interview-SentatorRodneyEllis-081303.mp3

[MeekOneGOP]

hehe !

[hocndoc]

Here's the Austin American Statesman view point.

((Note that this article actually says in paragraph 7 that the Judge sympathized on the political points, but thought about "tossing" the legal points, then punted by calling for help.))



http://www.statesman.com/legislature/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/0803/0828redistrict_update.html
Federal judge turns to higher court on redistricting
Democrats may make their case on redistricting before an appeals court panel

By Gary Susswein and Laylan Copelin

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

LAREDO — A federal judge said today that he doesn't buy the argument that the state's Republican leaders have violated the Voting Rights Act in their efforts to draw a new map for congressional districts.

But U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen said he's not prepared to throw out the lawsuit filed by 11 Senate Democrats who boycotted the recently ended special session to prevent a new congressional map from being passed.

Saying that the case isn't so absurd, Kazen said he will ask the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to convene a three-judge panel to listen to the arguments.

Democrats have said that by dumping a Senate rule on how proposals are debated, Republicans were reducing representation for minority residents in their districts. Kazen said he had been leaning toward tossing out the case, but decided to ask another panel of judges to consider it.

"By far, the most prudential thing to do here would be to ask for the convening of a three-judge court," he said.

Kazen also said he would ask that panel to review Democrats' request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Senate officials from having them arrested and returned to the Senate if they return to the state.

Kazen was skeptical about the Democrats' legal argument, but he repeatedly said he sympathized with their political argument. He said it's bad public policy to redraw congressional boundaries this year, and he said it's not a priority for the state of Texas.

Kazen also called on both sides to bring a new level of civility to the case and compared the standoff to the conflict in the Middle East.

"We've got these two camps over there, and it's either total victory or total surrender," he said.

The level of unease was evident by a last-minute decision against having five of the boycotting Democrats attend the court hearing.

Democrats early Wednesday said they were given credible information that Republicans had arranged a plan that would have resulted in the arrest of at least one of the Democrats in Laredo. During the just-ended session, the Senate was one member short of the attendance needed to conduct business.

Democrats would not reveal the information, but said they were advised not to return to Texas by a Republican colleague.

"We spent a month of our lives on this," Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said. "We're not about to make a silly mistake."

A spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry, however, said there was no plot against the Democrats.

"It appears the senators in New Mexico have been watching too many pay-per-view movies in their hotel rooms," said Gene Acuña. "That is such a laughable scenario, it's not worthy of response."

After the hearing, the Democrats' lawyer, Max Renea Hick, blamed Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the lack of civility.

State Solicitor Ted Cruz said he was pleased with the judge's decision.

Kazen said he believes the three-judge panel can convene by the middle of September.

Perry is expected to call another special session on congressional redistricting, although when he will do that isn't clear. The Democrats remain in New Mexico and were scheduled to decide whether to return to Texas later today.

[deport]

He said it's bad public policy to redraw congressional boundaries this year, and he said it's not a priority for the state of Texas.

---

Well it maybe 'bad public policy' and/or 'not a priority' but that's the Legislature's choice not something for the Judiciary unless it violates the Constitution or Statutes....

Rent a Judge for a day.... Looks like he was looking out for his reelection bid....

[deport]

Looks like he was looking out for his reelection bid....

---

Scratch that as he is a Federal Judge..... sheesh, get brain in gear.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for posting the AAS version ! ...

[Becki]

Had the case been clearly without merit, Kazen said, he would have felt comfortable making the ruling by himself. He said he would write a letter to the chief judge of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to ask that two other judges be appointed.

He just didn't want to take the heat alone.

Becki

[jimt]

That's an amazing article for the Carbuncle. Thanks for posting it.

[jimkress]

Why don't they just send the Texas Rangers to New Mexico and drag these democRATs back to Texas? Or at least ask New Mexico to extradite them?

[lowbridge]

Why did the Chicken D's cross the road?

To avoid a quorum.