🔗 Share this article Supreme Court Backs Newly Drawn Lone Star State House Districts. Via an per curiam ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted Texas to implement a redrawn congressional boundary scheme that may create up to five additional Republican-leaning districts. The six-to-three ruling, released on Thursday, upholds a petition by the state to overturn a federal judge's ruling that had struck down the new map in November. Court's Explanation The lower court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, creating much confusion and disturbing the delicate federal-state balance in elections, the order stated in justifying its ruling. The district court had determined that Texas had likely sorted voters based on their race – a practice known as unconstitutional racial sorting – when it enacted the boundaries. It had mandated the state to employ the maps created after the most recent national count for the next year's election. Strong Dissenting Opinion Through a forcefully written dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the court's ruling. She argued that it disrespected the work of the lower court, observing that its opinion was actually authored by a judge selected by ex-President Donald Trump. We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision, Kagan wrote in a opinion co-signed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She continued, Today's ruling guarantees that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its enhanced favoritism, will govern next year's elections. And it guarantees that many Texas residents, without justification, will be sorted in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has stated year in and year out, is a violation of the constitution. Countrywide Redistricting Battle This decision occurs during a nationwide contest over the redistricting of electoral maps. Texas is a crucial component in pushes to alter the U.S. House map to protect a narrow Republican majority. Typically, map-drawing happens after a decennial population count. Yet the action by Texas Republicans to initiate a brazen mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year set off a wave among other states. Conservative legislators in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted new maps that could add several more conservative seats. The opposition, in response, have responded with their own plans in including California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those potential gains. Partisan Reactions The Texas AG welcomed the supreme court ruling. In a statement, he said the order protected Texas's prerogative to draw a map that ensures electoral outcomes favorable to Republicans. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he added. Conversely, opposition party officials criticized the decision. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the head of a major party election organization. Another senior House leader argued the court had once again eroded its credibility by approving a discriminatory map. The ruling demonstrates a willingness to subvert democracy. This Texas plan is a partisan, racially biased scheme to undermine voter will, especially in communities of color, he stated.