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Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, et al., Appellants v. Shannon Perez, et al.

Paid petition · United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. SA-11-CV-360 · judgment August 24, 2017

Decided · June 25, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 55% cert probability (95% interval 34%–74%)

Before the decision, about 13.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a direct appeal from a three-judge district court (mandatory jurisdiction), a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and a state or local-government petitioner.

Questions presented

Consolidated with 17-586.

  1. Whether the district court issued an appealable interlocutory injunction when it invalidated Texas' duly enacted redistricting plan and ordered the parties to appear at a remedial hearing to redraw Texas House of Representatives districts unless the Governor called a special legislative session to redraw the Texas House map within three business days.

  2. Whether the Texas Legislature acted with an unlawful purpose when it enacted Texas House of Representatives districts originally imposed by the district court to remedy any potential constitutional and statutory defects in a prior legislative plan that was repealed without ever having taken effect.

  3. Whether any of the invalidated districts that were unchanged from the 2012 court-imposed remedial plan to the 2013 legislatively adopted plan (in Bell, Dallas, and Nueces Counties) are unlawful, where the district court in 2012 issued an opinion explaining why these districts were lawful.

  4. Whether the Texas Legislature had a strong basis in evidence to believe that consideration of race to maintain a Hispanic voter-registration majority was necessary in HD90 in Tarrant County, where one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit told the Legislature it had to keep the district's population above 50% Spanish-surnamed voter registration to avoid diluting Hispanic voting strength.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Scott A. Keller
Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 17-586

Argument & decision

Argued April 24, 2018 — Scott A. Keller · Edwin S. Kneedler · Max Renea Hicks · Allison J. .... Audio and transcript

Decided June 25, 2018. Opinion by Alito.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 27 2018
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Jun 25 2018
    Adjudged to be REVERSED IN PART, AFFIRMED IN PART, and case REMANDED. Alito, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Kennedy, Thomas, and Gorsuch, JJ., joined. Thomas, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Gorsuch, J., joined. Sotomayor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan, JJ., joined. VIDED. (No. 17-586, Judgment REVERSED, and case REMANDED).
  3. Apr 24 2018
    Argued. For appellants: Scott A. Keller, Solicitor General of Texas, Austin, Tex. For appellee United States in support of appellants: Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For appellees in 17-586: Max Renea Hicks, Austin, Tex. For appellees in 17-626: Allison J. Riggs, Durham, N. C. VIDED
  4. Mar 07 2018
    CIRCULATED
  5. Feb 23 2018
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. VIDED
  6. Jan 12 2018
    Further consideration of the question of jurisdiction is POSTPONED to the hearing of the case on the merits. Further consideration of the question of jurisdiction in No. 17-586 is postponed to the hearing of the case on the merits. The cases are consolidated and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument.
  7. Jan 12 2018
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 17-586. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 17-586. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the flings is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  8. Jan 08 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/12/2018.
  9. Dec 20 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2018.
  10. Dec 13 2017
    Reply of appellants Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, et al. filed.
  11. Nov 29 2017
    Motion to dismiss or affirm filed by appellees Mexican American Legislative Caucus, et al.
  12. Nov 29 2017
    Motion to dismiss or affirm filed by appellees Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force.
  13. Nov 29 2017
    Brief amici curiae of Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin filed.
  14. Oct 27 2017
    Statement as to jurisdiction filed. (Response due November 29, 2017)
  15. Oct 27 2017
    Appendix of Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, et al. filed.