Supremes to Reexamine Texas Redistricting

I’m cautiously heartened by the Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of Tom DeLay’s 2003 gerrymandering that divided Austin into three congressional districts extending from Midland to Houston and all the way down to Mexico.

The court’s review comes on the heels of revelations that Justice Department staff lawyers who said DeLay’s map violated the Voting Rights Act were overruled by Bush appointees. To make sure that doesn't happen again, our Justice Department has banned staff lawyers from issuing such opinions in the future.

Whether the court would overturn a congressional map, however discriminatorily drawn, after it has already been used in an election is anybody’s guess, but anything that keeps DeLay’s name where it belongs - down in the gutter alongside used condoms and blood-flecked loogies - can’t be all bad.