| Getty Images Supreme Court blocks ruling against Texas redistricting

A sharply divided Supreme Court has blocked a lower court ruling that congressional district maps Texas adopted in 2013 violate the Constitution and are the product of intentional racial discrimination. RELATED: This Texas Court Case on Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts Could Change the Entire United States

Texas’ ruling stated the use of these maps constituted “a litigation strategy designed to insulate the 2011 or 2013 plans from further challenge, regardless of their legal infirmities.”

Temporary districts were made in 2012 and adopted in 2013, but the districts were never officially redrawn; the 2012 maps were adopted under similar circumstances to the present, with an election looming in the near future, but were never meant to be permanently used. Instead, Alito instructed the challengers to respond to the state’s request by the afternoon of September 5; the order indicates that the district court’s order will remain on hold until the response is received and either the Supreme Court or he takes further action on the state’s request.
The United States Supreme Court confirms (5–4) a temporary stay of a lower court ruling which would have required Texas to undergo new redistricting of congressional districts with large Hispanic and African American populations. The ruling was made in advance of a formal hearing on the gerrymandering case, Abbott v. Perez, which has no scheduled hearing date yet.