Interim District Maps for Texas Rejected by Supreme Court

Source:  Austin American Statesman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Texas redistricting maps drawn by a panel of federal judges in San Antonio and ordered the lower court back to the drawing board.

The San Antonio court should have used the maps created last year by the Legislature as a starting point when it drew interim redistricting boundaries for the U.S. House, the Texas House and the state Senate , the high court said.

At the same time, the lower court should take care not to draw a map that could violate the Voting Rights Act, which seeks to ensure that racial and ethnic minorities are not discriminated against at the polls, the high court said.

The ruling introduced a new element of uncertainty into Texas' primary election schedule. Texas had planned to participate in Super Tuesday on March 6, but court challenges have already delayed the primaries once and could do so again.

Both sides of the debate reacted to the ruling with optimism, saying it's still possible to hold Texas' primaries as now scheduled on April 3.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott claimed victory for the state, saying the high court heard his lawyers' message that the San Antonio judges overstepped their authority and that their next attempt at interim maps should pay greater deference to the original legislative maps.

"Courts are ill-suited for the policy making process, and it is inappropriate for a court to get into making policies, like what you see drawing legislative lines," Abbott said in an interview with the American-Statesman.

"The San Antonio court abandoned any deference to the state policy maker/decision-making process and implemented its own standards of what it thought was fair and right, and that is clearly an inappropriate mantle for a court to assume."

Civil rights groups that challenged the Legislature's maps — including the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund — also claimed victory, saying the Supreme Court's decision should work in their favor.

The groups, which contend that the Legislature's maps dilute the minority vote, noted that the Supreme Court directed the San Antonio court to make sure it creates districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act.

"Today's decision affirms the critical role of the federal Voting Rights Act in protecting minority voters," MALDEF lawyer Nina Perales said. "We look forward to further proceedings in the federal court in Texas to again secure fair interim maps for all Texans."

Abbott said he believes there is still enough time to pull off April 3 primaries.

The hope is that the San Antonio court will have new maps ready in the next 10 days, he said. The court has scheduled a Feb. 1 conference on the case.

For now, the Supreme Court decision means that Texas effectively has no legislative or congressional districts for this year's elections, even though some candidates have already filed for office. A third set of maps from the San Antonio court almost certainly will result in shuffles to the candidate lineup and might even entice some candidates who took a pass under the previous maps to jump back into the political fray.

State Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, is a prime example.

He wrote on Twitter after the Supreme Court's ruling, "Once retiring office holders can be heard using the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger - `I'll be back!'"

Peña said in an interview that he might consider another run at the state House, but it depends on what the next redistricting map looks like, among other factors.

"I still have the fire in the belly to be in the political arena," he said. "But I have to balance that with my first responsibly to my family and the political realities of the drawn district."

For U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, a redistricting map that looks more like the Legislature's vision could mean he'll get a primary challenger - possibly former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, who has expressed interest in returning to Congress. (Doggett originally was pitted against state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, under the Legislature's map. But Castro switched districts when U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, announced his retirement.) Doggett said in a statement, "However the final lines are drawn, I will remain prepared to seek re-election wherever most of my constituents live. Both my San Antonio and Austin offices are working actively, and I will remain involved in both cities at every future opportunity."

But no matter what the San Antonio court comes up with, a chance remains for the whole Texas redistricting saga to wind up before the Supreme Court again.

Abbott has already said he would appeal again, if necessary.

"If the San Antonio court overreaches, and it exceeds their authority, it will necessitate another appeal to the Supreme Court," he said. "And that would delay the process again."

teaton@statesman.com; 445-3631