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[GK86]

Link.

Texas lawmakers drew up three U.S. congressional districts to undermine the influence of Hispanic voters, a divided panel of three federal judges ruled, in the latest development in a years-long battle over gerrymandering.

In the decision announced late on Friday, U.S. District Judges Xavier Rodriguez and Orlando Garcia in San Antonio found that the districts' shapes diluted minority voters' power, either by splitting communities into different districts or concentrating minorities in a single area to limit their sway

"When done to minimize Hispanic electoral opportunity, it bears the mark of intentional discrimination," wrote Rodriguez and Garcia, who were appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush and former Democratic President Bill Clinton, respectively.

The third judge on the panel, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith, dissented.

It was not clear whether Texas would appeal the ruling. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did not immediately comment on Saturday.

The three districts found unlawful are currently represented by two Republicans and one Democrat.

Legal battles over Texas redistricting have raged since 2003, when the Republican-controlled legislature took the unusual step of throwing out the 2001 maps and redrew the districts. Typically, redistricting occurs once every 10 years after the U.S. census.

In the decision, the majority wrote that in redrawing the southwestern 23rd Congressional district, for example, map makers moved 600,000 voters between districts and fractured a heavily Latino county in a deliberate effort to lessen Hispanic voter turnout.

 

[tuxfool]

The dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

And then there is the United States, appearing through attorneys from the Department of Justice. I have no criticism of their knowledge of the law, and their zeal is, to say the least, more than adequate. But they entered these proceedings with arrogance and condescension. One of the Department's lawyers even exhibited her contempt for Texas and its representatives and her disdain for these proceedings by regularly rolling her eyes at State witnesses' answers that she did not like, and she amused herself by chewing gum while court was in session.

It was obvious, from the start, that the DoJ attorneys viewed state officials and the legislative majority and their staffs as a bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots who bemoan the abolition of the poll tax and pine for the days of literacy tests and lynchings. And the DoJ lawyers saw themselves as an expeditionary landing party arriving here, just in time, to rescue the state from oppression, obviously presuming that plaintiffs' counsel were not up to the task. The Department of Justice moreover views Texas redistricting litigation as the potential grand prize and lusts for the day when it can reimpose preclearance via Section 3(c).

Of course, these are just personal impressions based on demeanor and attitude. More objectively verifiable are the witch hunts and fishing expeditions that the DoJ conducted in pursuit of its goals. I give two examples....

The DoJ wholly failed, but not for lack of trying. There was, and is, no smoking gun in this record, nor has the United States shown that the State hid or failed to disclose one. The DoJ's scheme to build a record on which to urge opt-in relief via Section 3(c) has initially failed. Of course, if this court is deemed to have jurisdiction, the judges will consider any remaining claims pressed by any party, including Section 3(c) claims, as appropriate.

The Department of Justice has overplayed its hand and, in the process, has lost credibility. The wound is self-inflicted. The grand theory on which its intervention was mainly based—that invidious racial motives infect and predominate in the drawing of the 2011 district lines—has crashed and burned.

Lol.

 

[rokkerkory]

Texas is a joke

 

[XenodudeX]

Texas is a mess.

 

[Yaboosh]

The dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

Lol.

Reads like copypasta.

 

[entremet]

Texas is a mess.

idk. Tons of people moving there every year, so they must be doing something right.

 

[AuthenticM]

Good

And wow at that dissenting judge. Talk about wilful blindness.

 

[Snowybreak]

The dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

Lol.

Boo fucking hoo. They called out your racist bullshit and here you are, acting like a smug piece of shit. Get fucked buddy.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

The dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

Lol.

Is this a judge or a butthurt snowflake? That's not a dissent.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

This kind of news bodes well for the rest of the nation.

Actually kinda looking forward to 2018 now.

Judge Smith can fuck off. Sick of these self-entitled pricks playing the victim card.

 

[Goro Majima]

Reads like copypasta.

It's missing the part where they kept interrupting the judges by yawning really loudly after trying to steal like 15 Milky Ways from the vending machine outside

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

It's missing the part where they kept interrupting the judges by yawning really loudly after trying to steal like 15 Milky Ways from the vending machine outside

The Department of Justice just shot themselves in the foot.

 

[NimbusD]

Reads like copypasta.

Lmao just what I was thinking.


It really is crazy that that person is a judge. Their dissent is essentially "they hurt my feelings!". Then I guess they go on to insist they didn't prove their case, which is fine, but didn't elaborate on it, then went right back to unfounded butthurt mudslinging at the doj.

 

[KDR_11k]

He's a judge now? Which dimension did we step into?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

It's missing the part where they kept interrupting the judges by yawning really loudly after trying to steal like 15 Milky Ways from the vending machine outside

And when no one was looking, they took forty cakes. They took 40 cakes. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible.

 

[Vicetrailia]

Love it when they project Donald Trump style.

It was obvious, from the start, that the DoJ attorneys viewed state officials and the legislative majority and their staffs as a bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots who bemoan the abolition of the poll tax and pine for the days of literacy tests and lynchings. And the DoJ lawyers saw themselves as an expeditionary landing party arriving here, just in time, to rescue the state from oppression...

 

[MightyKAC]

Bu bu but BOTH parties like to gerrymander!!!!!*


*Says absolutely no one who has actually been paying attention.

 

[WedgeX]

The Department of Justice just shot themselves in the foot.

That is EXACTLY how the dissent reads.

Was that gaffer a judge?

 

[norm9]

Were they not supposed to do that?

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

That dissent is a fucking joke.

 

[Nelo Ice]

This kind of news bodes well for the rest of the nation.

Actually kinda looking forward to 2018 now.

Judge Smith can fuck off. Sick of these self-entitled pricks playing the victim card.

And isn't there another gerrymandering case from Wisconsin going to SCOTUS this year?. If gerrymandering is stopped then there will be blood next year. I'm guessing GOP reps will finally be afraid again.

 

[Magus1234]

And isn't there another gerrymandering case from Wisconsin going to SCOTUS this year?. If gerrymandering is stopped then there will be blood next year. I'm guessing GOP reps will finally be afraid again.

Nope, becasue they will push HARDCORE for voter IDs

 

[Unknown One]

Nope, becasue they will push HARDCORE for voter IDs

Pretty much, though cheaters would love to have multiple avenues to cheat with.

If we could stop gerrymandering, stop voter id, and have mail in ballets with a national voting day, the GOP would be dead.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Pretty much, though cheaters would love to have multiple avenues to cheat with.

If we could stop gerrymandering, stop voter id, and have mail in ballets with a national voting day, the GOP would be dead.

Well, in the meantime, surely there are programs that the DNC could implement to guarantee voter IDs to whoever needs them. Of course, that's going to be problematic if it involves getting driver licenses.

At least steps in the right direction are being made.

 

[GK86]

That dissent is something else.

 

[Valhelm]

Any chance they redraw this before 2018?

 

[metalslimer]

Can we expect the DOJ to drop the case if it moves up?

Anyway ending gerrymandering is one of the biggest issues facing the United states but its been such a quiet battle. It would have been nice to have Clinton replace Scalia but both sides and what not

 

[cakely]

Good.

That bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots had it coming.

 

[firehawk12]

If you told me that dissenting opinion was a NeoGAF post, I would believe you.

 

[metalslimer]

If you told me that dissenting opinion was a NeoGAF post, I would believe you.

That would likely get you banned here

 

[KernelPanic]

That judge is probably on Trump's shortlist for any future SCOTUS openings.

 

[Particle Physicist]

So how are the districts going to be redrawn? I'm willing to bet they make a 'non-partisan' committee that ends up doing the same shit.

 

[phisheep]

That dissent is a fucking joke.

No, really, it isn't.

It really is crazy that that person is a judge. Their dissent is essentially "they hurt my feelings!". Then I guess they go on to insist they didn't prove their case, which is fine, but didn't elaborate on it, then went right back to unfounded butthurt mudslinging at the doj.

That's because it is not the full dissent, and not even the reason for dissenting in the first place.

That's not a dissent.

Correct. It is a very small, significantly slanted, extract from a dissent.

The full opinion is here. The dissent starts at page 166 of 194.

Essentially the reason for the dissent is that the whole case is moot. The boundaries being complained of were drawn up in 2011, there was an injunction against them later in 2011 and these boundaries have never been used in any elections, instead a set of boundaries drawn up by the court has been used. Nobody's vote has been compromised by these boundaries.

Judge Smith seems significantly frustrated at the court having spent six years in litigating this case and took out some of his frustration on the DoJ, which intervened in the case, while expressing the utmost respect for the actual plaintiffs and defendants and their legal teams.

So, not as black and white as it seems.

 

[Escape Goat]

Those sound like Hispanic judge names.


So-called judges.

 

[Disheveled_Zen]

Can we just cut out Dallas, Houston, Austin, and make our own state? San Antonio can come too as long as they keep hosting PAX south.

 

[Princess Magnificent]

Only three districts?

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Love a fun dissent. Having had experiences with both local AUSAs and DOJ flyins here in Texas, I can definitely his point of view and have felt similarly at times. That said, I can also easily understand the DOJ attorneys having difficulty responding with straight faces to the Texas AG/Solicitor General team as well, some of the stuff that has come out of their mouths and pens over the last few years has just been headscratching.

 

[Aztechnology]

Gerrymandering needs to be outlawed.

 

[pigeon]

No, really, it isn't.



That's because it is not the full dissent, and not even the reason for dissenting in the first place.



Correct. It is a very small, significantly slanted, extract from a dissent.

The full opinion is here. The dissent starts at page 166 of 194.

Essentially the reason for the dissent is that the whole case is moot. The boundaries being complained of were drawn up in 2011, there was an injunction against them later in 2011 and these boundaries have never been used in any elections, instead a set of boundaries drawn up by the court has been used. Nobody's vote has been compromised by these boundaries.

Judge Smith seems significantly frustrated at the court having spent six years in litigating this case and took out some of his frustration on the DoJ, which intervened in the case, while expressing the utmost respect for the actual plaintiffs and defendants and their legal teams.

So, not as black and white as it seems.

To be clear, this is a dissent. The court found that the case was not moot. This one judge disagrees.

 

[MarionCB]

It's difficult to believe that dissent was written by an actual judge, even as just an extract. I'm not used to judges taking a case so personally. It's as though he felt they were attacking him specifically. Incredibly unprofessional and embarrassing. I assume Trump will appoint him to the Supreme Court.

 

[phisheep]

To be clear, this is a dissent. The court found that the case was not moot. This one judge disagrees.

Oh, of course. I was attempting to summarise the dissenting judge's reasoning, not to express an opinion on the outcome.

 

[Zen Aku]

idk. Tons of people moving there every year, so they must be doing something right.

Yeah, they're doing racism right.

And BBQ.

 

[Invictus]

Yeah, they're doing racism right.

Not all Texans.

 

[Zen Aku]

Not all Texans.

Yeah I know. You know what I mean. >.>

 

[eBay Huckster]

idk. Tons of people moving there every year, so they must be doing something right.

they're doing "having a lower cost of living than california" right, since that's where most of the state's in-migration comes from

 

[Rayis]

they're doing "having a lower cost of living than california" right, since that's where most of the state's in-migration comes from

And even then, our cost of living is slowly creeping up, at least in the cities that are going through intense gentrification.

 

[theignoramus]

The dissenting opinion from Judge Smith:

Lol.

Another sterling citizen of the USA more upset about something being called racist than documented proof of racism.