That's Gotta Hurt

A 3 judge panel in Texas has ruled that the Texas mid-decade redistricting was driven by race and hence unlawful.

Because of provisions of the Voting Rights Act, this can only be appealed to the Supreme Court, which with a non-corrupt court would mean that the 2026 elections in Texas would have to be held under the old districts, but given the nature of the court, and particularly the nature of Chief Justice John Roberts, (he's made it his life's work to prevent n*****s from voting) I'm not sure if there won't be some sort of highly irregular shadow docket bullsh%$ to ensure Republican political advantage.

Texas cannot use its new congressional map for the 2026 election and will instead need to stick with the lines passed in 2021, a three-judge panel ruled Tuesday.

The decision is a major blow for Republicans, in Texas and nationally, who pushed through this unusual mid-decade redistricting at the behest of President Donald Trump. They were hoping the new map would yield control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts — up from the 25 they currently hold — and help protect the narrow GOP majority in the U.S. House.

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote in the ruling striking down the new lines. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.” 

This is a finding of fact, and (theoretically, at least) any appeal should only make decisions of matters of law. 

………

It was not immediately clear if the state still has a legal path to restoring the new map in time for 2026. Unlike most federal lawsuits, which are heard by a single district judge and then appealed to a circuit court, voting rights lawsuits are initially heard by two district judges and one circuit judge, and their ruling can only be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tuesday’s decision came from a three-judge panel made up of Brown — a former Texas Supreme Court justice who once clerked for Abbott — and U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, a Barack Obama appointee. Judge Jerry Smith, who was appointed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Ronald Reagan, cast a dissenting vote and was expected to soon issue his own opinion. 

The ruling comes 10 days into the monthlong period when candidates can sign up for the March primary.

………

The state had argued that the entire redistricting process was based on a partisan goal, which the U.S. Supreme Court has previously said courts cannot intervene to prevent. But the plaintiffs pointed to a letter sent from the U.S. Department of Justice directing Texas to redraw its maps to eradicate four majority non-white districts, arguing that was the original sin that cast a racially discriminatory pall over the whole process.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Brown said it was difficult to analyze the DOJ letter because it contained “so many factual, legal and typographical errors.” But the fact that state leaders had pointed to that letter repeatedly as the impetus for redistricting was enough, the judges said. 

Damn!  That is some serious shade that Judge Brown is throwing at the DoJ.

And in response, California redistricted to counter Texas.

Seems like a big loss for Team R.