By Robb Orr and Jennifer Bendery, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Legislators around the state and on Capitol Hill were abuzz on Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would consider the constitutionality of the Texas congressional redistricting plan orchestrated by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) that helped Republicans gain seats in Congress.
The cases that will come before the high court are the League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 05-204; Travis County v. Perry, 05-254; Jackson v. Perry, 05-276; and GI Forum of Texas v. Perry, 05-439.
At the heart of the controversy is concern that the redistricting plan illegally dilutes black and Hispanic voting power. In addition, some have questions about the timing of Texas redistricting. The Constitution requires states to adjust congressional district lines once every 10 years to stay in sync with population shifts. But Texas districts were drawn up twice after the 2000 Census, first in 2001 by a court and then by state legislators in 2003 in a plan engineered by DeLay. As a result of the second redistricting, Republicans won 21 of the state's 32 seats in Congress in the last election, a gain of 6 seats for the GOP.
Several state leaders reacted to today's announcement with the belief that the constitutionality of the plan would be upheld. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the high court's decision to schedule an oral argument in the case "is entirely appropriate." Because it is a direct appeal, the Supreme Court's jurisdiction is mandatory under federal law, he said, and it is not surprising that the high court is allowing oral arguments before deciding the merits of the case. After hearing the case, however, Abbott said he expects the high court to agree with the judgment of the three-judge federal court that the redistricting plan "is wholly constitutional."
Gov. Rick Perry said he welcomes the review by the Supreme Court because he believes "the Texas remap is constitutional, as lower courts and the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed." He said he and other state officials "remain confident that the Supreme Court will find that every Texas voter has a voice at the ballot box."
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) reiterated that a federal three-judge panel approved the redistricting plan two years ago. While he said he welcomes the Supreme Court's review, "I think they will agree that everything was done according to the law."
But Democratic leaders expressed hope that the high court's decision to review Texas redistricting suggests that they agree something smells fishy with the final map. U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said today's action "is a hopeful sign that the voting rights of millions of minorities will be restored."
Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) said Democrats "have said from the beginning that the DeLay map is unfair and unconstitutional. That's why House and Senate Democrats left Texas to block the passage of this plan in 2003." As a result of Republicans passing the 2003 redistricting plan into law, Coleman said the voting rights of millions of Texans were violated "for an unnecessary, immoral and illegitimate power grab." He added that he is optimistic that the Supreme Court "will throw out this illegal map that harms Texas voters and passed through a scheme marked by corruption from beginning to end."
The ongoing debate regarding the legality of Texas' redistricting plan took on new furor earlier this month with the discovery of a previously undisclosed 73-page memo indicating that Department of Justice lawyers unanimously agreed that the redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act. The memo stated that the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts and that Texas did "not meet its burden in the showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect."
Democratic legislators reacted to the discovery of the memo with strong words. "Outrage. Anger. But mostly, sadness, is what I feel," said Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin). Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) said the fact that the memo was disregarded "is a stark reminder of the deep politicization and pressure that the Texas Legislature was under to pass a Republican designed congressional plan at the expense of minority voting rights. The Bush White House and Tom DeLay should be ashamed." Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) last Monday sent a letter to President Bush, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) requesting that each of them urge the Supreme Court to hear the case.