"Justices Signal to States Voter Map Changes Timely for Midterms"

Bloomberg Law:

Supreme Court runs the risk of “turbocharging” mid-decade redistricting with its decision allowing Texas to move forward with a redrawn 2026 congressional map a lower court had blocked as a racial gerrymander, critics say.

The unsigned ruling on Thursday, issued via the justices’ emergency docket, found a three-judge panel had improperly inserted itself into the state’s political process on the “eve of an election,” suggesting the conservative justices will not allow any court intervention thwarting newly drawn maps before next year.

“The case seems to send a strong signal that the court is going to be very skeptical of any federal courts interfering with redistricting decisions by states for the 2026 election,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of Ca