Redistricting plan's fate may be decided as early as today

[Judi Lynn]

June 26, 2006, 12:50AM
Redistricting plan's fate may be decided as early as today
Implications of Supreme Court opinion will be felt nationwide

By KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

A U.S. Supreme Court decision that could come today will either create an instant hurricane in Texas' political climate or remove the clouds hanging over the fall elections.

At issue is a congressional redistricting plan that shifted six of the state's 32 House seats from the Democratic to the Republican column in 2004, giving the GOP a 21-11 majority in the state's U.S. House delegation.

In arguments before the court earlier this year, challengers characterized the new map as a partisan power grab that violated the Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

Renea Hicks, an Austin lawyer who represented Democrats in unrelated redistricting matters, said he reviewed the oral arguments, but would not hazard a guess as to which direction the court was leaning based on its questions.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4001349.html

[SoCalDem]

1. Too bad the horrible legislation they helped pass cannot be undone

as easily if the courts decide that Delay was the punk we all knew he was/is..

[regnaD kciN]

2. And, if the SCOTUS gives another Republican Rubber-Stamp...

...we'll really have "an instant hurricane" that will go on forever, as you'll see every state that has a changeover in political control redistricted to throw more seats to the new party in charge of the Legislature and Governor's office. Every time an election causes such a changeover (possibly four times each census period), the first order of business will be to redistrict the state for the benefit of the "winners" of that particular election. :eyes:

[depakid]

3. Of course, they could limit their decision somehow

to just this particular case- meaning it essentially has no precential value in other matters.

Like Bush v. Gore.

[bluestateguy]

4. The Democrats should do re-redistricting in Louisiana and Illinois

They could get some of those seats back in the House.

But doing that would require a set of balls.

[UTUSN]

5. K&R n/t

[David__77]

6. They'll probably "uphold" it without making any hard precedents.

If that's possible. That way, when Democrats try it, they can be blocked on some minor question.