SORT IT OUT

Supreme Court to Review Texas Redistricting

Justices will determine constitutionality of proposed map.

The Supreme Court has agreed to intervene in a Texas dispute over a controversial redistricting map that critics say is designed to limit voting rights of minorities. The court will determine if the state’s redistricting plans for the Texas House and Senate as well as for its representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is constitutional. The politically-charged dispute focuses on the federal government’s ability to protect minority voting rights and whether judges should have authority over how a state legislature’s map is drawn. Texas is one of nine states covered by the 1965 Voting Rights Act which requires federal approval before states with histories of racial discrimination can change their voting laws or district maps.