Supreme Court to Review DeLay Redistricting
As covered by Daily Kos, the Supreme Court will review Congressman DeLay’s redistricting:
The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it would decide a challenge by Democrats and minority groups to the controversial 2003 Republican-supported congressional redistricting plan in Texas.
The justices agreed to review a ruling by a federal three-judge panel that upheld the bitterly contested map, which had been strongly supported by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas.
The redistricting had been a controversial effort by DeLay, with Democrats stymieing efforts to approve the plan at the first two sessions by leaving the state and denying Republicans a quorum.
A political hot button, there was vicious wrangling over the effort which was widely viewed, at least among Democratic circles, that it was an effort to give one party a clear advantage over another, diluting the voting power of minorities.
Those challenging the effort said the plan shifted more than 8 million Texans into new districts and that it was designed in 2003 to protect all 15 Republican members of Congress and to defeat at least seven of the 17 Democratic members.
Career lawyers at the Justice Department believed that this redistricting effort discriminated against minority voters and violated the federal Voting Rights Act but were overruled, according to a memorandum obtained by The Washington Post.
See the memorandum (pdf).
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