Thank You, Justice Sonya Sotomayor
The Supremes punted on redistricting again this morning.
The one bright light: Strong words from the start from Sotomayor:
“The Court today goes out of its way to permit the State of Texas to use maps that the three-judge District Court unanimously found were adopted for the purpose of preserving the racial discrimination that tainted its previous maps.”
No kidding. The Supreme Court just codified racial discrimination.
The justices ruled 5-4 Monday in an unusual case involving congressional and state legislative districts that had first been adopted by the lower court on an interim basis, then approved by the Texas Legislature.
In 2017, the same judges who approved the interim maps in 2012 agreed with the challengers that the maps were the product of intentional discrimination.
But Justice Samuel Alito said for the court’s conservative majority that the lower court made a mistake by striking down all but one of the districts.
Oh, FFS!
1There is an option to have bad judges removed, and does not include Obama suffocating them with a pillow.
2Some of the justices think that any decision they make on redistricting will be a political decision and show them as either a Red or Blue Supreme Court, which they want to avoid in these polarized times.
The damn fools don’t see that punting and letting obviously biased voting maps, mostly drawn by the GOP, stand is also a political decision and brands then as a Red Supreme Court.
3That 5-4 advantage of Repugs is going to kill us in the end.
4And on the Five-Year Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision in Shelby County v. Holder
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on the five-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which removed key voter protections:
“Five years ago, the Supreme Court struck down critical voter protections, leaving Congress with a responsibility to update the Voting Rights Act. Instead of taking action, the Republican Majority refused to do so and has doubled down on efforts in recent years to deny eligible Americans their voice in our democracy because they have not paid for a certain form of identification, because they missed a single election, or because they live in a district whose borders have been purposefully drawn to exclude them, among other reasons. These efforts disproportionately target minorities, seniors, and students and deny them their due representation in Congress. This cannot continue and must be addressed.
“I will continue to push for Congress to come together and do its job to protect American voters and to build on the bipartisan work begun when I authored the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and partnered with Rep. John Lewis, Terri Sewell, and others to offer legislation for the past five years to restore the protections the Supreme Court struck down. We must continue to strengthen and defend our democracy; Congress cannot continue to ignore this challenge.”
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