On Tuesday night, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an August ruling from a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio which had ordered Texas to redraw two congressional districts the court found to have unconstitutionally disenfranchised Latino and other minority voters. The Supreme Court's stay of the lower-court order, 5-4, was along ideological lines, and the conservative majority did not explain their decision. The high court also blocked a ruling from the lower court that invalidated nine Texas House districts also because GOP lawmakers had drawn them to "ensure Anglo control." The Supreme Court will weigh the merits of the Texas appeal sometime this term, probably in several months.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had requested the stay, and the Supreme Court's approval means the 2018 midterms will be held using the contested districts. This is the latest wrinkle in a legal dispute over Texas' redistricting after the 2010 Census. Civil rights groups had challenged the map because none of the new districts, created because of the state's growing Latino population, were drawn favorably for minority candidates. Wednesday's win for the Texas Republicans breaks a month of setbacks, where two federal courts in four cases had ruled against the state on the legislative districts, its voter ID law, and assistance for voters who don't speak English as their first language.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaineIn the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt GaetzCartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
