Well, DUH! Federal judges find Texas gerrymandered maps on racial lines

[Meghan54]

Another "Who'd have thunk?"

"The record indicates not just a hostility toward Democrat districts, but a hostility to minority districts, and a willingness to use race for partisan advantage," U.S. District Judges Xavier Rodriguez and Orlando Garcia wrote in their opinion.

Federal judges found more problems in Texas' voting rights laws, ruling that Republicans racially gerrymandered some congressional districts to weaken the growing electoral power of minorities, who former President Barack Obama set out to protect at the ballot box before leaving office.

The ruling late Friday by a three-judge panel in San Antonio gave Democrats hope of new, more favorably drawn maps that could turnover more seats in Congress in 2018. But the judges in their 2-1 decision didn't propose an immediate fix, and Texas could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republicans hold two of three congressional districts ruled newly invalid and were found to have been partly drawn with discriminatory intent. The GOP-controlled Texas Legislature approved the maps in 2011, the same year then-Gov. Rick Perry signed a voter ID law that ranks among the toughest in the U.S. Courts have since weakened that law, too.

Judges noted the "strong racial tension and heated debate about Latinos, Spanish-speaking people, undocumented immigrants and sanctuary cities" that served as the backdrop in the Legislature to Texas adopting the maps and the voter ID law.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ed-maps-on-racial-lines/ar-AAo8JB0?li=BBnb7Kz

 

[ch33zw1z]

more to come, hopefully change.

 

[trenchfoot]

Makes a person wonder why only Repub controlled states find a need to pull this kind blatantly regressive, discriminatory and minority disenfranchising "Voter Rights Acts" in order to win elections/stay in power.

Makes me wonder if freely given their way, what the state of affairs of the voting process would actually look like in these conservative owned states.

 

[Jhhnn]

Makes a person wonder why only Repub controlled states find a need to pull this kind blatantly regressive, discriminatory and minority disenfranchising "Voter Rights Acts" in order to win elections/stay in power.

Makes me wonder if freely given their way, what the state of affairs of the voting process would actually look like in these conservative owned states.

They'd look like a variant of Jim Crow.

 

[Thebobo]

Well duh

 

[brycejones]

Those names sound Mexican. They should have given the case to white judges.

/s

 

[sandorski]

Lock 'em up!

 

[Thebobo]

Well duh

 

[JMC2000]

Makes a person wonder why only Repub controlled states find a need to pull this kind blatantly regressive, discriminatory and minority disenfranchising "Voter Rights Acts" in order to win elections/stay in power.

Makes me wonder if freely given their way, what the state of affairs of the voting process would actually look like in these conservative owned states.

I'll tell you why:

*clears throat, channels Jim Joe-Bob*

Well see here, them darkies and them yella folks, all they wanna do is live off the government teat, while popping out more babies.

Now, we're the majority in this country, and dangit, we ain't gonna turn this great nation into some Communist welfare state, where jack-booted thugs take money from hard working, God-fearing people like me, and give it to lazy moochers.

It ain't right, and that's why we do what we can to limit their voting power, because the government won't let us do it the easy way.

*goes back to normal*

That's pretty much the reason why.

Ugh, felt as though my brain was melting.

 

[Indus]

Probably fake news in this day and age.

 

[fskimospy]

Man the conservative majority that struck down the preclearance part of the Voting Rights Act must feel really smart right now.

Southern states barely waited until the ink was dry on the decision to start implementing racist voting measures.

 

[Jhhnn]

Anybody who thought Jim Crow died 50 years ago was sadly mistaken. He's trying to make a comeback tour.

 

[MajinCry]

Anybody who thought Jim Crow died 50 years ago was sadly mistaken. He's trying to make a comeback tour.

He didn't leave, he just focused on the Reservations is all.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Another "Who'd have thunk?"



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ed-maps-on-racial-lines/ar-AAo8JB0?li=BBnb7Kz

The Judge.....he's a Mexican and Trumps gonna build a wall....he's a Mexican

#sarcasm for safety

 

[Commodus]

To put JMC2000's explanation another way:

It's in the Republicans' interests to disenfranchise non-white voters as often as possible, since Republican policies have alienated the party from virtually everyone who isn't white (and preferably straight, wealthy, Christian and male).

And in Texas, the advantages of gerrymandering districts to favor white voters are particularly obvious. There's a sharp contrast between the major cities, which include many more non-white and liberal voters, and the predominantly white, conservative rural areas. If the districts were more fairly distributed, there's a good chance that the Democrats would win... and when Texas has 38 electoral votes, that would decide national elections.

If you were a Republican who wasn't above exploiting racism for political gain, and you knew that fair districts might lead to Democrat victories for decades to come at both the state and federal levels, wouldn't you bend over backwards to screw non-white voters? It'd mean the difference between keeping your cushy political job as-is and having to actually rethink your political values to stay relevant.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/13/s...slative-map-lower-court-found-discriminatory/

"
The U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling late Tuesday that concluded nearly a dozen legislative district maps in Texas were the product of intentional racial discrimination.

The ruling ensures that new district maps will not be produced before the 2018 federal elections. The justices divided 5-4 in issuing the ruling."

 

[Paratus]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/13/s...slative-map-lower-court-found-discriminatory/

"
The U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling late Tuesday that concluded nearly a dozen legislative district maps in Texas were the product of intentional racial discrimination.

The ruling ensures that new district maps will not be produced before the 2018 federal elections. The justices divided 5-4 in issuing the ruling."

Wow. You must have been shitting your pants until SCOTUS delivered. Just think what could have happened if McConnell hadn't thrown the senate and the contry under the bus last year.

 

[ivwshane]

Man the conservative majority that struck down the preclearance part of the Voting Rights Act must feel really smart right now.

Southern states barely waited until the ink was dry on the decision to start implementing racist voting measures.

Um... There is no need for that anymore because it was so effective!


/s

 

[TheVrolok]

Wow. You must have been shitting your pants until SCOTUS delivered. Just think what could have happened if McConnell hadn't thrown the senate and the contry under the bus last year.

Yep. Extreme and wanton obstructionism pays off big, reinforcing the behavior and perpetuating minority rule.

 

[Jaskalas]

Man the conservative majority that struck down the preclearance part of the Voting Rights Act must feel really smart right now.

Southern states barely waited until the ink was dry on the decision to start implementing racist voting measures.

The original issue: Federal court invalidates part of Texas congressional map

Before Tuesday’s decision, the judges had already ruled that the Texas Legislature sought to weaken the strength of Latino and black voters while drawing state House and congressional districts in 2011, immediately following the 2010 U.S. Census. But the 2011 maps never actually took effect.

Amid legal wrangling over the Legislature’s maps, the court drew temporary maps ahead of the 2012 elections. Texas lawmakers formally adopted those maps in 2013 and have used them for the past three election cycles.​

What does the VRA and Shelby County defeating preclearance have to do with gerrymandering districts in Texas? The latter happened in 2011, the former in 2013. What Texas did in 2013 was bow to the court's own maps from 2012. As you can see, the timeline does not add up in the manner you described. Texas is a result of action taken in 2011 following the 2010 census.

Is the SCOTUS going to rule the court has no authority on this matter, due to the changes in the VRA and preclearance? That'd be quite interesting. But then the courts often claim the power of the Constitution itself in deciding that people have been wronged. Abortion, for example. Even if Congress and the President moved to expressly ban it, courts would overrule both branches. As with that, so too can the courts decide voters have been wronged and claim ultimate power in deciding how to right those wrongs.

As courts are definitvely above the law, they do not need the VRA to slam Texas over gerrymandering.

 

[Snarf Snarf]

Good news, but it's probably not going to matter for mid terms in 2018. The GOP effectively got 3 elections worth of seats out of this farce of a map (if you haven't taken a look at it you guys really should, you couldn't be anymore obvious if you tried).

I'm still disappointed because there's about 5 more districts that are equally painfully obvious to a simple eye test. When you've got parts of a major metro area being pulled into rural counties that are up to 3 hours away it's pretty obvious that you're trying to dilute the minority liberal areas with conservative ones. The San Antonio district in question basically grabbed the northwest part of Bexar County (majorly wealthy and very very white, I live in this part out town, as do lots of millionaires) and the southern part of Austin in Travis county (very very Hispanic and lower income) It's about as obvious of a gerrymandering job as you can do, yet Repubs were rewarded with 2 seats for at least 3 terms in districts that if drawn normally would have been Democratic seats.

I wish there was more punishment available for what amounts to a blatant disregard of voters voices, and is just another point on the scoreboard against those who believe we're in a post racist society. The Texas House will get away with this, and will probably do it again if they hold the house after the 2020 census continuing the cycle of minority voter suppression well into the next decade.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

The famous "eye test" of representative mapping. So much more important than a United States Supreme Court ruling. Even more important than having a fair United States Senate race in places like............ California.

 

[Thebobo]

The famous "eye test" of representative mapping. So much more important than a United States Supreme Court ruling. Even more important than having a fair United States Senate race in places like............ California.

Can you explain what those two issues are. I am familiar with the recent SCOTUS ruling on gerrymandering in NC. If that's what you are talking about I don't see what negative affect it has other then trying to be fair. But I am not familiar with not having a fair senate race in california.

 

[Jhhnn]

As courts are definitvely above the law, they do not need the VRA to slam Texas over gerrymandering.

The federal judiciary is not above the law but rather the ultimate authority of Constitutional law. That's quite by design.

 

[Jaskalas]

The federal judiciary is not above the law but rather the ultimate authority of Constitutional law. That's quite by design.

I think we'd both agree that if a court was determined to act on behalf of those voters in Texas, no law would stop them.