As expected, Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday officially asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court’s ruling that invalidated two of Texas’ 36 congressional districts. “The lower court’s decision to invalidate parts of the maps it drew and adopted is inexplicable and indefensible,” Paxton said in a statement. “We’re eager for the high court to take up the case.” The U.S. Supreme Court already temporarily suspended a San Antonio court ruling that found congressional districts 27 and 35 were drawn with discriminatory intent. It also froze a separate ruling from the three-judge federal panel requiring the state redraw nine of its legislative districts because of “intentional discrimination” by race.
Paxton plans to “soon ask the high court to take up that redistricting case,” according to his office.
The political maps are the center of a years-long legal battle, as advocacy groups argue they intentionally dilute minorities’ voting power, by cramming them into a single district, or splitting them up among too many.
Source: Paxton officially requests review of redistricting ruling – San Antonio Express-News.