In December, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a preliminary injunction that would have barred Texas from using its new Congressional voting maps in the 2026 election. Now, the Court has reversed the injunction, brushing aside massive evidence that the plan intentionally discriminated against people of color.
Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued this statement:
“The Supreme Court has added a profound insult to an already harmful injury. Last year a majority of justices allowed Texas to keep its racially gerrymandered voting maps. And today the Court has taken a sledgehammer to logic.
The facts are very clear in this case. The Trump administration told Texas to take a wrecking ball to majority-minority Congressional districts, and that’s precisely what it did. This was an intentional effort to limit the power of people of color in a state known for going to extremes to suppress the vote. In fact, it is one of the most blatant examples yet of modern-day racial gerrymandering, under the thin guise of partisanship.
One has to ask, if the Texas map isn’t considered an illegal gerrymander, then what is?
For now, Black voters and other voters of color in Texas will have to cast their ballots based upon a rigged map.
But this is no time to give up. This is a moment for everyone to speak up, speak out, and participate in the electoral process in overwhelming numbers. We must refuse to allow democracy to die, be it through intimidation, voter suppression, or gerrymandering.”
Rob Weiner, director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued this statement:
“The district court, unlike the Supreme Court, meticulously analyzed the evidence and found it overwhelming in demonstrating how Texas drew voting maps based on the race of the voters. The intent to discriminate was obvious. It permeates the record. The order to dismantle majority-minority districts came in a public memo from the Department of Justice. The governor and some legislators publicly embraced that order and explained what they were doing. Only after we challenged their race-based efforts did they try to clean up their earlier explanation.
The decision today casts doubt on the Court’s avowed commitment to race-neutrality in government decision-making. Apparently, that approach focuses on efforts to counter discrimination, and skims over discrimination itself. In Texas, the 40 percent of the population that is white controls 70 percent of Congressional districts. Something is wrong with this picture and with the Court’s indifference to the disparity.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will continue to fight against attacks on the sacred right to vote for Black Americans and other voters of color.”
Background information:
