Judges Order Texas to Redraw Discriminatory House Maps
SAN ANTONIO (CN) – A three-member panel of federal judges ruled unanimously Thursday that parts of the Texas House of Representatives map intentionally discriminate against minority groups and must be redrawn before the 2018 elections.
The three-judge panel in San Antonio federal court, led by U.S. District Judges Xavier Rodriguez, found that Texas lawmakers “purposefully maintained … intentional discrimination” to disadvantage minority voters when it adopted a gerrymandered district map in 2013.
The judges ruled that nine house districts must be redrawn.
In the 83-page ruling, the district court gave Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton three business days to advise whether Gov. Greg Abbott intends to take up redistricting efforts in a special legislative session, but Paxton said Thursday that the state would appeal the court’s ruling.
Paxton said the map the Legislature adopted in 2013 was largely based off a map that the court had drawn in 2012, to address discrimination claims made about a map adopted by the state in 2011.
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