Reply #3: NYT: Justices Express Concern... (Coverage of the Wed. SC Argument)

[livvy]

Justices Express Concern Over Aspects of Some Texas Redistricting
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: March 2, 2006

WASHINGTON, March 1 — Texas Democrats had their day in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge the unusual middecade redistricting of the state's Congressional delegation that led to the loss of five Democratic seats and helped solidify Republican control of Congress.

While the Democrats may not come away completely empty-handed, it appeared unlikely by the end of the intense two-hour argument that a majority of the court would overturn the 2003 redistricting plan, or any other plan, for that matter, as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Justice Scalia made his views clear throughout the argument. To Mr. Smith, he said at one point: "Legislatures redraw maps all the time for political reasons. To say it's something horrible is ridiculous."

Further, Justice Scalia said, even if there was a problem with middecade redistricting as a general rule, any such rule should not apply when a first redistricting after a new census had been done by a court rather than a legislature. "Surely that's a good reason" for the legislature to redistrict when it chose to, he said.
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/politics/politicsspecial1/02scotus.html