petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to grant ... - Election Law Blog
petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to grant ... - Election Law Blog
petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to grant ... - Election Law Blog
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10aAppendix B<strong>the</strong> court does acknowledge that “while this [CVAP] issueis a close question, we find that <strong>the</strong> choice of populationfigures is a choice left <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> political process.” Id. at 523.However, <strong>the</strong> “close question” was not whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> amoun<strong>to</strong>f vote dilution was extreme enough <strong>to</strong> warrant judicialintervention. The “close question” referred <strong>to</strong> whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>courts should intervene in <strong>the</strong> selection of a populationbaseline. The Fifth Circuit held <strong>the</strong>y should not. Id.The <strong>Court</strong> also rejects Plaintiffs’ attempt <strong>to</strong> limit <strong>the</strong>Chen holding <strong>to</strong> “<strong>the</strong> specific circumstances of that case.”(Docket # 25 n. 18.) Though <strong>the</strong> court does state at <strong>the</strong>beginning of its opinion that “<strong>the</strong> use of <strong>to</strong>tal population<strong>to</strong> track <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> districts does not, under <strong>the</strong>secircumstances, violate <strong>the</strong> Equal Protection Clause,” itconcludes its opinion with <strong>the</strong> following language, “But in[<strong>the</strong>] face of <strong>the</strong> lack of more definitive guidance from <strong>the</strong><strong>Supreme</strong> <strong>Court</strong>, we conclude that this eminently politicalquestion has been left <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> political process.” Chen,206 F.3d at 505, 528. Plaintiffs have not demonstratedthat, under <strong>the</strong>se circumstances, <strong>the</strong> Fifth Circuit wouldrequire this court <strong>to</strong> intervene in <strong>the</strong> political process andjudicially mandate Irving <strong>to</strong> track <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> districtsby CVAP instead of by population.For <strong>the</strong>se reasons, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Court</strong> hereby GRANTSsummary judgment for <strong>the</strong> City of Irving, DENIESsummary judgment for Plaintiffs, and DENIESDefendant-Intervenors’ motion for summary judgmentas MOOT.It is SO ORDERED.