The Supreme Court justices waded into an election-year political dispute from Texas, signaling they favor drawing the state’s 36 congressional districts based largely on the plan adopted by its Republican-controlled Legislature. The court’s leading conservatives said they were skeptical of allowing judges in San Antonio to put into effect their own statewide map that creates districts geared to electing Latinos.
Texas has been put “at a tremendous disadvantage,” said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, because the judges largely ignored the wishes of the Legislature. As a remedy, the justices suggested they would fashion a ruling that deferred mostly, but not entirely, to the election maps drawn by the state’s lawmakers. The Texas case involves both state politics and minority voting rights in an era when the Latino population is growing rapidly. It is also a test of whether judges or elected lawmakers should be trusted to draw election districts.
The outcome could determine whether Republicans or Democrats pick up as many as four seats in the House of Representatives in the November election. Because of a population surge of more than 4 million, Texas will see its congressional delegation increase from 32 to 36.
Full Article: Supreme Court weighs Texas redistricting case – latimes.com.