U.S. court voids 3 Texas congressional districts

[danarhea]

Ruling that Republicans redrew the Texas congressional map to intentionally discriminate against Latino and black voters in a “rushed and secretive process,” a federal court panel invalidated three districts, including one in Travis County, in an order issued late Friday.

Per the court, Republicans intentionally drew district lines to water down Hispanic and Black representation. This was so blatant that SCOTUS will easily uphold the decision.

Court voids 3 Texas congressional districts

 

[Somerville]

Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Three judge federal panel rules (2-1) that 3 districts were racially gerrymandered

Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

In a 2-1 ruling, the panel concluded that race, instead of partisan advantage, drove the decisions by the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw District 23, which is held by U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio; District 35, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio and is held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, and District 27, which includes Nueces County.
The nearly 200-page ruling invalidates those districts, and could have a filter-down effect on nearby districts if the ruling stands. The case was filed six years ago by minority voters and civil-rights groups, among others.
(. . .)
Writing for the majority were U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, a Democrat appointed to the bench by President Clinton, and U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, a Republican appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. Justice Jerry Smith, a Republican appointed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Reagan, filed a dissent that not only dissects the case, but also takes shots at the Justice Department

Other "redistricting" cases before the courts at this time involve Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia, Marlyland and North Carolina.

Gerrymandering has over the years benefitted both parties; in our modern world with the aid of gifted computer programmers, why not set up logical districts?

This computer programmer solved gerrymandering in his spare time

This is the twenty-first century. How hard can it be to create an algorithm to draw legislative districts after each census? (. . .)

These programs and algorithms already exist. Brian Olson is a software engineer in Massachusetts who wrote a program to draw "optimally compact" equal-population congressional districts in each state, based on 2010 census data. Olson's algorithm draws districts that respect the boundaries of census blocks, which are the smallest geographic units used by the Census Bureau. This ensures that the district boundaries reflect actual neighborhoods and don't, say, cut an arbitrary line through somebody's house.

You can see for yourself how his boundaries look.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Per the court, Republicans intentionally drew district lines to water down Hispanic and Black representation. This was so blatant that SCOTUS will easily uphold the decision.

Court voids 3 Texas congressional districts

I dunno I'm reading your source material and it appears as if one of the created districts represented by a Hispanic republican is majority Hispanic.

once Gorsuich is on the court this can go either way as a 5-4. It is really an unprecedented decision and there is no solid constitutional theory in play. It will go by partisan politics at the Supreme Court level.

 

[nota bene]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Somerville, what's your opinion of this?

 

[Somerville]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

What's your opinion of this?

I would go with the computer-created districting - take people out of the process.

 

[Renae]

Per the court, Republicans intentionally drew district lines to water down Hispanic and Black representation. This was so blatant that SCOTUS will easily uphold the decision.

Court voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Funny how they voided it, but in 1990...

The 1990 Elections: The Future - Redistricting; Elections Strengthen Hand of Democrats In '91 Redistricting
By MICHAEL ORESKES
Published: November 8, 1990

The 1990 midterm elections left Democrats well positioned to protect their majority in the House of Representatives for the next decade, despite the shift in the nation's population to more Republican areas in the South and West.

By winning the governorships in Texas and Florida and retaining legislative majorities there, Democrats will have complete control of drawing new lines for Congressional districts for those two booming states next year.

Texas will probably get three new seats and Florida four in the reapportionment of the nation's 435 Congressional seats in 1991.

To politicians the map making is lifeblood. Through the process of gerrymandering they can swing dozens of seats in Congress and in state legislatures from one party to the other by distributing voters to benefit some incumbents or hurt others -- more black voters here, fewer elderly voters there, more liberals here, more conservatives there.

Aside from Texas and Florida, in every other state that is either gaining or losing population, from California to New York and Massachusetts, the Republicans could do no better than win or keep some part of the state government, either a legislative chamber or the governorship, meaning they will have to negotiate the new maps with Democrats.

A key to the Democrats' seemingly impregnable control of the House of Representatives has been their control of state governments, which have the constitutional task of drawing the nation's political map every 10 years. Throughout the 80's, the Reagan and Bush Administrations and the Republican National Committee aimed at the 1990 elections as their chance to break the Democrats' stranglehold on redistricting. The Republicans say that by deftly drawing district lines the Democrats have split the Republican vote in a way that makes it hard for Republicans to win their fair share of Congressional elections.

The 1990 Elections - The Future - Redistricting - Elections Strengthen Hand of Democrats In '91 Redistricting - NYTimes.com
And yes, they drew very racially defined maps for congressional districts. This isn't anything new, and it isn't anything "racist".

Judicial malpractice really.

 

[Nap]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

I would go with the computer-created districting - take people out of the process.

I'm not a fan gerrymandering, but using computer created districts would not take people out of the process. Whoever writes the program would essentially tell the program how to draw them up. Would you really want to take a chance that the person that created the program to do that was from the opposing party?

 

[code1211]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Three judge federal panel rules (2-1) that 3 districts were racially gerrymandered



Other "redistricting" cases before the courts at this time involve Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia, Marlyland and North Carolina.

Gerrymandering has over the years benefitted both parties; in our modern world with the aid of gifted computer programmers, why not set up logical districts?

According to Former president Barrack Obama, the party in power at the time it is demanded controls the redistricting process.

FLASHBACK: Obama In 2009, 'Elections Have Consequences' | The Daily Caller
<snip>
“Elections have consequences,” he told then number two Republican Rep. Eric Cantor. “And at the end of the day, I won. So I think on that one I trump you.”
<snip>

 

[Thoreau72]

Funny how they voided it, but in 1990...


The 1990 Elections - The Future - Redistricting - Elections Strengthen Hand of Democrats In '91 Redistricting - NYTimes.com
And yes, they drew very racially defined maps for congressional districts. This isn't anything new, and it isn't anything "racist".

Judicial malpractice really.

Yes, bipartisan shenanigans.

 

[Conservative]

I dunno I'm reading your source material and it appears as if one of the created districts represented by a Hispanic republican is majority Hispanic.

once Gorsuich is on the court this can go either way as a 5-4. It is really an unprecedented decision and there is no solid constitutional theory in play. It will go by partisan politics at the Supreme Court level.

Exactly right but far too many on the left believe that people are robots and will always vote for the same party. Guess they have been spending too much time in the liberal districts realizing how many of their supporters have been bought. I have lived in TX for almost 25 years now and have learned to love its independence and freedoms allowed here. The reality is that the Hispanics AREN'T robots with many fed up with the illegal immigration as well. When you look at the TX vote you find a high percentage, far exceeding the national average, of Hispanics voting for Republicans just like in this District especially in state and local elections

 

[Deuce]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

According to Former president Barrack Obama, the party in power at the time it is demanded controls the redistricting process.

FLASHBACK: Obama In 2009, 'Elections Have Consequences' | The Daily Caller
<snip>
“Elections have consequences,” he told then number two Republican Rep. Eric Cantor. “And at the end of the day, I won. So I think on that one I trump you.”
<snip>

Ahh, right. So if Republicans win an election, it's ok to have clear racial bias in the fundamental blocks of our democracy.

 

[Conservative]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Ahh, right. So if Republicans win an election, it's ok to have clear racial bias in the fundamental blocks of our democracy.

Since when it is guaranteed that the Latinos are going to vote for the Democrat and ignore the major issues facing the state and the country? There are a lot of independent Latinos in TX that vote for the rule of law and TX economic model

Texas Latino vote splits - Houston Chronicle

 

[ttwtt78640]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

I would go with the computer-created districting - take people out of the process.

Programmed to favor what?

 

[Deuce]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Since when it is guaranteed that the Latinos are going to vote for the Democrat and ignore the major issues facing the state and the country? There are a lot of independent Latinos in TX that vote for the rule of law and TX economic model

Texas Latino vote splits - Houston Chronicle

... why do you think this is relevant? It's ok to draw districts racially as long as the votes split in some manner you deem proper?

 

[Deuce]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Programmed to favor what?

I would say uniformity of shape and population, as best as possible. (size will vary based on population density)

 

[Conservative]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

... why do you think this is relevant? It's ok to draw districts racially as long as the votes split in some manner you deem proper?

because the issue for the Democrats has always been Gerrymandering believing that people are robots always voting for a specific party and in TX that is being proven wrong

 

[<alt>doxygen]

Per the court, Republicans intentionally drew district lines to water down Hispanic and Black representation. This was so blatant that SCOTUS will easily uphold the decision.

Court voids 3 Texas congressional districts

We need to take the district drawing away from political operatives. Both parties have been doing this forever, and it's only getting worse. Congress has an 11% approval rating and, what, a 95% re-election rate? Something has to change.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

I would say uniformity of shape and population, as best as possible. (size will vary based on population density)

OK, would urban areas then be cut up into pie slice shapes that include an equal (or greater) number of outlying suburban and rural voters? If that happens then the urban (majority minority?) vote may get more diluted favoring the republicants.

 

[danarhea]

We need to take the district drawing away from political operatives. Both parties have been doing this forever, and it's only getting worse. Congress has an 11% approval rating and, what, a 95% re-election rate? Something has to change.

Here's the rub. Everybody hates congress, but everybody loves their own representative. Go figure. LOL.

 

[<alt>doxygen]

Here's the rub. Everybody hates congress, but everybody loves their own representative. Go figure. LOL.

Well, I lived for a time in a district in MD that was gerrymandered by the dems to pull in the NW corner of the state. The object was to get rid of a pesky Republican rep they kept electing. It worked. I don't think that corner of the state likes its rep. I lived in VA in a district that the Republicans engineered a dem out of. I now live in FL, which has had its gerrymandering overturned in the courts. There are many losers in this gerrymandering nonsense. Many are not happy with their congressional rep, but their voices have been gerrymandered away.

 

[exoplanet]

We could also, you know, be a modern democracy and avoid this altogether by implementing proportional representation.

 

[apdst]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

Ahh, right. So if Republicans win an election, it's ok to have clear racial bias in the fundamental blocks of our democracy.

What racial bias?

 

[Fenton]

Both parties redistrict, have been since the 1800s, and no, Gerrymandering had nothing to do with the Democrats staggering losses over the last 6 years.

 

[Deuce]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

because the issue for the Democrats has always been Gerrymandering believing that people are robots always voting for a specific party and in TX that is being proven wrong

So you're saying drawing racially-based districts is acceptable. This is what you are saying.

 

[Deuce]

Re: Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

What racial bias?

The one described by the court that is the topic of this thread. Didn't you read it?