Supreme Court ruling on Texas Redistricting could come today

RAW STORY
Published: Thursday June 22, 2006

An expected ruling from The United States Supreme Court on the Texas Congressional redistricting organized by disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) could come as early as today, the WALL STREET JOURNAL is reporting

Texas lawmakers executed an unprecedented redistricting of House seats between the ten year census conducted by the Federal government. The Texas scheme netted a gain of five GOP seats in the Texas delegation, helping to increase the party's hold on Congress.

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WASHINGTON -- Republican Texas lawmakers didn't like the electoral map that a federal court adopted after the 2000 census, so they redrew it -- and gained six seats in the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.

As early as today, the U.S. Supreme Court could say whether that mid-decade redistricting, which former Rep. Tom DeLay orchestrated to solidify control of the House, is constitutional. If the answer is yes, the implications could be felt far beyond Texas as Democrats and Republicans rush to embrace the technique of strategically reallocating voters among congressional districts after each election.

"If the Supreme Court decides that it's legal, not doing it would constitute a unilateral surrender," says Howard Wolfson, a former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Democrats see the necessity of fighting fire with fire."

At the same time, Republicans could themselves export the tactic to other states they control. In Georgia, Republicans already have used mid-decade redistricting to dilute Democratic strength in the university town of Athens.

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