SC turns back right wing challenge to population count Texas

[haymarket]

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-940_ed9g.pdf

The US Supreme Court takes action turning back a right wing effort in Texas to dilute minority population in the country to determine redistricting. This was just one of the right wing schemes to attempt to go against demographics that weaken the voting power of white voters who tend to vote republican.

 

[MrT]

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-940_ed9g.pdf

The US Supreme Court takes action turning back a right wing effort in Texas to dilute minority population in the country to determine redistricting. This was just one of the right wing schemes to attempt to go against demographics that weaken the voting power of white voters who tend to vote republican.

Just to provide a little bit of background on this case - essentially Texas, and specifically the conservative leaning members of the legislature, wanted to test the "one person, one vote" aspect of the Constitution. The argument that they put forward is that one person, one vote refers - when you are deciding where to draw the district lines - solely to individuals that are actually allowed to vote. The impact of this type of analysis would be to draw the influence away from urban areas, which tend to have a lot more individuals that can not vote (children, felons, etc.) towards rural areas.

This argument, of course, was opposed by most voting rights advocates on the grounds that an individual should not effectively lose their representation merely because they can not vote. This opinion was a near unanimous win for voting rights advocates (the lone asterisk being that Alito and Thomas filed concurring opinions).

All in all, a good decision.