- “Using race as the predominant means to sort voters into districts is also unconstitutional even if done as a means for partisan goals,” the brief stated.
By Vanguard Staff
Civil rights and racial justice organizations filed an amicus brief Monday in federal court urging judges to block Texas’ newly-enacted congressional map, arguing it racially discriminates against Black and Hispanic voters and should not take effect before the 2026 elections.
The brief was submitted in League of United Latin American Citizens, et al. v. State of Texas, et al. on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Black Voters Matter, the Austin Area Urban League, Dallas-Fort Worth Urban League, Houston Area Urban League, Barbara Jordan Leadership Institute, Friendship-West Baptist Church, and the League of Women Voters of Texas.
“Black voters and other voters of color are not pawns to be wielded in a shameful, extreme power grab,” the groups said in a joint statement. “The use of the new congressional map will severely harm their opportunities to elect their preferred candidates who understand their communities’ needs and will fight with them to help tackle the very real and persistent issues they face.
“The Constitution does not permit Texas to harm Black voters and other voters of color as a means of augmenting political power. We must never sacrifice ground in the fight to secure fully equal and fair representation for Black voters and other communities. The survival of our multiracial democracy in Texas and across our nation depends on it.”
The Legislature approved the map during an August special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. Lawmakers cited concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice over several congressional districts in Harris County and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The amici argued, however, that Texas used those concerns as a pretext to dismantle districts that had provided opportunities for Black and Hispanic voters, despite defending those same districts in federal court just months earlier.
In their filing, the groups said that the mid-decade redistricting “confirms race predominated in the design of districts in the 2025 congressional map.” The brief points to Texas’ abrupt reversal after years of insisting that its 2021 map was “race-blind,” only to turn around and dismantle key districts once the Department of Justice questioned their legality.
“Having defended the 2021 map for years, contending that it was developed using a race-blind process, Texas’ reliance on the Department’s contentions of racially gerrymandering to justify its mid-cycle redistricting efforts is a classic example of pretext,” the amici wrote.
The filing also criticized the process by which the map was enacted, describing it as rushed and opaque. The Legislature held minimal hearings, often without providing the public with a map to review. When one version was finally introduced, altering 37 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts, lawmakers scheduled a single public hearing in each chamber with less than 48 hours’ notice.
According to the brief, this deprived community members of any real opportunity to analyze or respond to the changes. “The process was a sham,” the amici wrote, stressing that it violated fundamental democratic norms of transparency and public participation.
The brief argued that the new districts unlawfully harm Black and Hispanic voters by packing and cracking their communities. In Harris County, the Legislature eliminated a district that had given Black voters the ability to elect their preferred candidates by moving them into another district at levels far higher than necessary.
Similarly, in Dallas-Fort Worth, lawmakers reconfigured districts to reduce effective crossover districts where Black voters had been able to form coalitions with other communities to elect candidates of their choice.
Amici stressed that race consciousness is not inherently unconstitutional in redistricting, especially when necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act, but said the 2025 map went far beyond what the law permits.
They argued that Texas “impermissibly used race as the predominant factor in targeting and reconfiguring” certain districts without a compelling justification. They also warned that dismantling effective crossover and coalition districts raises “serious questions under both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.”
The groups noted that opportunities for Black and Hispanic voters are not zero sum, pointing out that a fairly drawn map could preserve and protect representation for both communities.
Instead, they said, Texas intentionally weakened districts that had functioned well for voters of color in order to shore up partisan advantage.
“Using race as the predominant means to sort voters into districts is also unconstitutional even if done as a means for partisan goals,” the brief stated.
The organizations urged the court to issue a preliminary injunction, emphasizing that the upcoming election cycle will otherwise take place under unconstitutional maps. Texas, they noted, is home to the largest number of eligible Black voters of any state, making the stakes particularly high. “Absent preliminary relief, those harms cannot be undone,” the brief warned.
The federal court will now decide whether to block the 2025 map from going into effect while the larger legal challenge proceeds.
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LOL, so if California ends up redistricting will the GOP sue in court?
They’ve already filed two lawsuits