SCOTUS To Hear Texas Gerrymandering Case

The Austin Statesman reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review lower-court rulings that ordered Texas to redraw 11 political districts found to be discriminatory.

Texas officials appealed the rulings, which concluded that two congressional districts and nine Texas House districts were improperly drawn along racial lines in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Acting on the Texas appeal, a divided court blocked efforts to redraw the maps in September to allow time to consider whether to grant Texas’ request to overturn the rulings. On Friday, the court announced that it combined the two appeals and will hear oral arguments this spring.

The Supreme Court is already considering similar gerrymandering cases out of Wisconsin and Maryland.

Texas Democrats react:

Today’s news again shines light on Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans’ pattern of discriminating against Texans of color. They didn’t just cheat to get an edge in a silly game, they silenced the voices minorities at the ballot box. We will again be before the Supreme Court to examine Texas Republicans’ stacking of the deck through systemic discrimination against people of color. This is a welcome development on the eve of MLK weekend, when we should all reflect on how discrimination continues to exist.