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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Texas District Maps Win High Court Approval

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Supreme Court refused to block Texas from using court-drawn interim congressional redistricting maps for November's general election.

A panel of federal judges in San Antonio found earlier this month that these map would not discriminate against minority voters, but the League of United Latin American Citizens said the court-drawn maps are biased.

Justice Antonin Scalia called for briefing on the issue, and the court ultimately refused to grant a stay late Wednesday.

The court-drawn maps are going to be used because a panel of federal judges in Washington scrapped three district maps that the Legislature had drawn.

These interim maps are the second effort from the Western District of Texas. In January 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the first interim maps for departing unnecessarily from the state's plans.

Since the Legislature's maps were deemed discriminatory in Washington, the minority group hoped that the new interim maps would be trashed as well.

Others pointed out, however, that it would be impossible to draw new maps in time.

Texas drew the maps to address a population increase of more than 4 million people since 2000, giving the state four new seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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