Supreme Court Argues on Texas’ Redistricting Maps

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today attended oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted the State’s emergency stay request after a federal district court improperly redrew redistricting maps enacted by the Texas Legislature. The State of Texas is urging the Supreme Court to overturn the interim map order and reinstate the State’s duly enacted maps until the preclearance process concludes.

“The Texas Attorney General’s Office is committed to ensuring that Texas elections are conducted using legally enacted redistricting maps,” Attorney General Abbott said. “No court has, at any time, found anything unlawful about the redistricting maps passed by the Texas Legislature. It is judicial activism at its worst for judges to draw redistricting maps of their own choosing despite no finding of wrongdoing by the State of Texas. The court-drawn maps, which give no deference to Texas’ duly enacted legislative plans, cannot be allowed to stand.”

In early December, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Texas’ request for a stay of the interim redistricting plans imposed by a federal district court for the Texas Senate, Texas House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. By staying the district court’s maps, the Supreme Court prevented 2012 legislative and congressional elections from proceeding under the district court’s interim redistricting plans. The district court’s interim redistricting plans wholly disregarded the will of the Texas Legislature despite the fact that there has been no finding by any court that a single aspect of Texas’ enacted plans is likely to violate federal law.