Georgetown law professor Steve Vladek expressed concern about the Supreme Court's Monday order allowing Texas to implement a new election map previously blocked by a lower court for constituting racial gerrymandering.
The three-judge panel had ruled the map illegal under Texas law, but the Supreme Court cleared its use by incorporating reasoning from a December hearing.
Vladek's newest essay for his Substack One First notes the Court's approach represents a "novel extension" of how emergency docket rulings are used as precedent — not through traditional stare decisis but as analytical foundation for subsequent merit rulings.
He characterized this development as "entirely worrisome" given the foundation consists of "two cryptic paragraphs that have been thoroughly debunked."
Vladek criticized the majority justices for dismissing the detailed evidentiary record the district court meticulously built supporting its preliminary injunction.
The Texas map resulted from a Republican-led special legislative session last year aimed at redistricting the state.
Watch the video below.
