In a decision that has drawn significant attention, the Supreme Court opted not to obstruct a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Tuesday afternoon. This decision leaves in place a new map for Galveston County, Texas. A federal district judge ruled in the previous year that this new map contradicts Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This section explicitly prohibits election practices that result in denial or curtailment of voting rights based on race. Amy Howe reports on SCOTUSblog.
The court’s three liberal justices, including Justice Elena Kagan, voiced their dissent with Justice Kagan writing that the 5th Circuit had significantly overstepped its authority. Despite these objections, Galveston County can use the new map in the upcoming 2024 elections.
Officials from Galveston County first introduced the contentious map for the county’s commissioners in November 2021. As a result of the new map, the county’s single majority-minority district transitioned into the district with the least percentage of Black and Latino residents.
This measure drew challenges from both the Biden administration as well as local civil rights groups and leaders who launched a legal battle against the county. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown had earlier ruled the map as “a clear violation of § 2 of the VRA” and laid out an extensive critique of its implications. Judge Brown ordered the county to redesign the map before the Nov. 2024 elections.
While the 5th Circuit initially upheld Judge Brown’s decision, the full 5th Circuit later postponed Brown’s orders until it can reassess the case in the following year. The challengers appealed to the Supreme Court for intervention but their request was declined on Tuesday afternoon.
The county argued in their defense that the ‘Purcell’ principle generally advises against federal courts interfering with state election laws shortly before an election. They also mentioned that if the 5th Circuit’s stay is lifted they may struggle to meet the primary election deadlines set for March 2024.
Justice Kagan criticised the invocation of the ‘Purcell’ principle in her dissent, stating that the stay issued by the 5th Circuit had already disrupted the status quo—an election map which had previously adhered to Circuit precedent and had governed the election of Galveston County’s commissioners for decades.