Supreme Court rules one Texas district was racially gerrymandered

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that one congressional district in Texas was drawn in a way that influenced the number of Hispanic and African-American voters in that district, but that three other districts in the challenged map did not violate the law.

In the case, Abbott v. Perez, the court had to decide whether to overturn a Texas state court’s decision concerning congressional and state political districts redrawn after the 2010 census.

The decision upholds Texas' latest congressional map against challenges that said lawmakers drew the boundaries to intentionally suppress votes from minority communities.

Justice Samuel Alito said in the Court's decision that there was not enough evidence to say that the Texas legislature intentionally discriminated when they adopted new maps in 2013, but that the state legitimately wanted to end ongoing litigation about its district maps. He said ongoing redistricting cases are expensive and can cloud the electoral process, so it is understandable that the state wanted to resolve the ongoing questions.