I presented oral argument in my intervention in this case today. I am working on a further filing, and will put out a press release as soon as I get it done.
I urged rejection of all the proposed maps, because the proponents had presented no evidence that their maps are in compliance, or their opponents' maps are not. I moved for an evidentiary hearing. I also asked the Court to take notice that I was prepared to offer evidence, supported by three expert witnesses. I asked the Court not to permit a situation like that in 1996 in which minor-party candidates were excluded from the ballot. I also argued that there was no opposition to my motions, the first to declare a standard of proof for determining when a district map is unconstitutional, and the second to establish a new process for adopting maps, with no partisan intervention. See http://www.constitution.org/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr.htm ______ "Court Appears to Lean Toward Creating Own Map in Texas" CQ Politics offers this report <http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/08/court_appears_to_lean_toward_c.html>. ______ Court hears redistricting plans Presiding judge suggests redrawing map doesn't have to hurt incumbents. By Laylan Copelin, Tara Copp AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, August 03, 2006 The state's congressional map could be fixed without pairing incumbents or eliminating U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's Travis County base, a federal judge suggested today. U.S. District Judge Patrick Higginbotham, the presiding judge on a three-judge panel, made the suggestion as he grilled the state's attorney at a redistricting hearing this morning in a packed Austin courtroom. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel is trying to find a fix for a South Texas congressional district the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled discriminates against Latinos. In June, the Supreme Court found that Laredo's 23rd congressional district violated Hispanic voting rights and ordered the panel to redraw the lines of that district, which would also affect other districts. Ted Cruz, representing the state, defended its map, which would pit Doggett against U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and leave Travis County, largely a Democratic county, split between three Republican incumbents. Cruz denied that the state Republican leadership was trying to target Doggett when it drew its map. He said the state did not know Doggett had moved from East Austin and would be paired with Smith under its proposal. Cruz also criticized plans by Latino groups and Democratic organizations -- who were scheduled to make their arguments in court later today -- for trying either to add too many Latino districts or gain a partisan advantage. He urged the justices to do no political harm. The court's role, he argued, is "to cure a violation in (District) 23 and, other than that, like a physician, do no harm," Cruz said. Cruz said that in fixing the District 23 problem, the court should not hurt U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, whose border district is where the Republican leadership cut 100,000 Latinos to make his district more Republican. Higginbotham seemed to suggest his thinking -- if not the panel's -- on the matter. He suggested redrawing Doggett's existing district, which runs from Austin to the Mexico border, to contain more of Travis County. He then suggested making Webb County the political base for a South Texas district represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. "Why should a Latino community have to come to Austin?" Higginbotham asked. He said Bonilla's district could pick up more voters -- both Republican and Democratic -- from San Antonio. Higginbotham pointedly asked Cruz about the state's plan to eliminate Doggett's political base in Travis County. "Why is that necessary?" he asked. Cruz defended it, saying the state was trying to make the districts more compact. Over the past month, federal judgesJHigginbotham, John Ward and Lee Rosenthal have received proposed new maps and legal arguments from many of the parties in the Supreme Court case. It is expected that four, or as many as seven, congressional districts will be affected, including some or all of the three districts that split Travis County. Because of time constraints, and based on the judges' rulings in the 2001 and 2003 congressional redistricting rounds, the judges are expected to favor a minimalist approach to redrawing the state's 32-district map and issue a decision quickly, legal analysts said. The Texas Secretary of State's office has sent the court a letter outlining the different timeframes for holding special elections Nov. 7. To accomplish that, ballots would have to be certified by Sept. 6, said spokesman Scott Haywood, with runoffs likely held Dec. 12. Special elections open to new candidates would have to be held in any redrawn district. Find this article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/4hearing.html -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001 www.constitution.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
