Texas redistricting heads to high court (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A raw political dispute with the potential to affect this year's mid-term congressional elections goes before the Supreme Court Wednesday, and the views of the newest justices could prove crucial.

The high court will delve into the controversy over a Texas voter redistricting plan promoted by Republicans, including Rep. Tom DeLay. The measure led to the 2004 ouster of five Democratic incumbents in Congress and sparked a bitter partisan battle.
***
However, the justices are more likely to consider narrow legal arguments. For instance, whether courts can fashion a proper remedy when partisan gerrymandering, in which voting districts are drawn to favor a political party, is judged excessive. Or, whether states can remake their congressional map twice in the same decade when a valid plan exists.

In a rare afternoon session, four appeals will be consolidated into two hours of oral arguments, a signal of the urgency to resolve the dispute. The court has the power to declare the current Texas plan unconstitutional and throw it back either to lower state or federal courts -- or to the state legislature to fashion a new congressional map.

more at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/28/scotus.texas/index.html

EDIT: formatting

[WI_DEM]

1. Any guesses on how this Supreme Court will rule!!??

[acmejack]

2. They will allow the redistricting to stand.

States rights are inviolate (in this case, where it is to the GOP's advantage). I desperately desire otherwise, since I am a member of the aggrieved party, but call me cynical...

[Lexingtonian]

5. it's pretty clear

The DeLay gerrymander is in violation of the VRA, that's the easy one. The packing of Bonilla's district is blatant, the splitting of minority voters in the carve-up of Wolf's Dallas district and in Tyler is obvious too.

The question of re-redistricting...there's a violation of due process and equal protection guarantees when districting is done for reasons other than achieving equitable representation. These guarantees exist to the voters, but the elected representatives also have a guarantee of rights of the kind. (Otherwise state legislatures could change districtings between any two federal elections to knock out any House Rep they don't like.) I expect the Court will more or less peg districting to the federal census with some exceptions possible for "extraordinary circumstances", i.e. natural catastrophes, that depopulate or overpopulate areas for large parts of a decade.

[bullimiami]

3. this is blatant gerrymandering, and obviously violates

the voting rights act. it also violated the constitutional mandates for redistricting.

will the scotus uphold the LAW or will they do the political two-step again?

I dont know.

[Neil Lisst]

4. if they vote as I expect them to, they will let Texas redistricting stand

they're END oriented