Overview
- Texas filed an emergency appeal Friday asking the Supreme Court to block a 2–1 federal ruling that enjoined its 2025 congressional map as a likely unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
- The El Paso panel ordered use of the 2021 map for the 2026 elections, with Judge Jeffrey V. Brown writing the majority and Judge Jerry E. Smith issuing a 104-page dissent attacking the decision as judicial activism.
- The majority said a Justice Department letter urging changes to four districts ultimately spurred a race-driven redraw, while Texas contends the legislature acted for partisan advantage.
- The three-judge court denied Texas’s request for a stay, clearing the path to the Supreme Court, where Justice Samuel Alito receives the application as candidate filing approaches on Dec. 8 and March primaries loom.
- The dispute unfolds in a broader redistricting clash that includes California’s Proposition 50 and a pending high court case from Louisiana that could further redefine when and how race may be used in drawing districts.