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District Lines Are At States’ Discretion

2006

In 2003, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature redrew lines for its 32 congressional districts. The redistricting plan replaced a court-drawn map, which was enacted after the 2000 census. Various plaintiffs challenged the new map on the grounds that it violated the one-person, one-vote requirement, constituted impermissible political gerrymander, diluted the votes of people of color in violation of the Voting Rights Act, and violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The U.S. Supreme Court decides in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry in 2006 that the new map limited the rights of 100,000 Hispanic voters by lumping them into a Republican district. This one district aside, however, it allows the new map to stand. Significantly, the Court determines that states can redraw their congressional districts at their discretion.