Free Republic

AUSTIN -- The U.S. Supreme Court dealt another blow to Texas Democrats over congressional redistricting Wednesday by rejecting arguments in Pennsylvania that partisan gerrymandering can go too far. Texas Democrats had hoped the court would set a standard for illegal partisan gerrymandering that would have bolstered their federal challenge to Texas districts drawn by the Republican-dominated Legislature last year. Democrats in the Pennsylvania case had argued that a partisan gerrymander can violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Congressional districts in both states were drawn so tightly by Republican legislatures that the election results were all but a...

DEMOCRATS TAKE FIRST STEPS TO SUPREME COURT As expected, district court rejects request for stay The wheels are in motion on the Democrats’ appeal to a federal three-judge panel’s decision that the Texas Congressional map is both lawful and Constitutional. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas denied all relief requested by the plaintiffs on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday morning, the Jackson plaintiffs and the Congressional intervenors had filed a request for emergency stay with the District Court, the first step on the way to the nation’s highest court. This morning, the District Court made the expected...