Here are some thoughts on the Texas redistricting case before the Supreme Court.

The problem here is that while I agree that partisan gerrymandering is a problem, reversing the current Texas map doesn’t take partisanship out of the process, as it simply reverts to a map that was drawn primarily to Democratic advantage (as the court map was largely based on districts drawn by the Texas State Legislature when the Democrats dominated the process).

Unless the Court were to impose a radical change on the way we draw districts (which it isn’t going to do), then I don’t see this case as really having any substantial effect on this process or problem.

In the general sense of the political as a struggle for power over the government, it seems to me that what the Texas State Legislature did was legitimate, even if it underscored the fact that the current system does not produce desirable results.

In regards to the likelihood of the Court overturning the districts, note the following two quotes from oral argument.

First, David Souter:

“It is impossible to take partisanship out of a political process,” Souter said. If politics is a sole basis of challenge, he said, ” I don’t see why that does not imply the illegitimacy of any redistricting at any time.”

Second, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg:

And when Smith argued that the mid-decade redistricting by the Legislature had overturned a much fairer plan for reasons that were purely political, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she was puzzled. “I thought a plan drafted by the state legislature replaced a plan that had been drafted by a court?”

If Ginsburg and Souter are skeptical, I can’t see the Court overturning the districts in question.

Further, there is a legitimate question here that is quite difficult: if one is to say that the admixture of partisan politics and districting should not take place, how is one to determine when partisanship has influenced district lines, and then determine how much is too much?

I would like to see a different system of district drawing to exist, however, as long as the power is retained by elected officials in state legislature, it will be impossible to remove partisan politics from the process. And since there is no way that SCOTUS is going to do that, or even has a basis for so doing, then looking to this case to fix much of anything is an empty hope (unless all one is hoping for is an increased chance that Democrats will gain seats from Texas this year–but of course that would be partisan politics…).

(This post is based, in part, on a comment I left over at Charging RINO, which has a nice round-up of news stories on this subject).

h/t: Jeremy Dibbell posting at the Moderate Voice.