Good news -- a three-judge panel in Texas ruled today that Texas' new redistricting plan was designed to intentionally discriminate against minorities, meaning the law is toast.
A redistricting plan signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) intentionally discriminated against Hispanic voters, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled Tuesday. The judges found that seats belonging to white incumbent members of Congress were protected under the plan while districts belonging to incumbent minorities were targeted for changes.
The court was “persuaded by the totality of the evidence that the plan was enacted with discriminatory intent,” according to the ruling. There was “sufficient evidence to conclude that the Congressional Plan was motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent,” the court found. [...]
The panel of three judges found that “surgery” had been performed on congressional districts belonging to minority members of Congress while no such alterations were made to districts belonging to incumbent white members of Congress.
“Anglo district boundaries were redrawn to include particular country clubs and, in one case, the school belonging to the incumbent’s grandchildren,” the judges wrote.
The efforts of Texas Republicans to suppress minority representation is clearly aimed at blunting the influence of a rising Hispanic population that could turn the state blue in the not-too-distant future.
This should not be confused with Texas' voter ID law which is still being challenged by the Department of Justice.