The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 8, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court handed the State of Texas and the Trump administration a huge win December 4th, overruling a district court panel’s compelling racial gerrymandering findings. The gerrymandered maps likely deliver five more GOP congressional seats in the 2026 midterms.
The majority’s opinion leaned heavily on their Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP opinion, and the “too close to the election” Purcell decision to undermine the District Court’s decision. The majority wrote, “The District Court failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature,” UNQUOTE. Invoking the Purcell principle, the majority further argued that the District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing confusion.
Justices Kagan, Jackson and Sotomayor condemned the use of Purcell when the Texas primary could be moved and the general election was 11 months away. Their dissent pointed to the District Court’s due diligence, with 3,000 documents, nine days of testimony, and 160-page opinion, when the majority’s ruling was “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.”
Justice Kagan wrote: “Today’s order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race. Because this Court’s precedents and our Constitution demand better, I respectfully dissent.”
We have the opinion at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 20) Trump-Requested Texas Congressional District Gerrymandering Blocked by Federal Court Panel
American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 26) The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision. What is it?
U.S. Supreme Court – GREG ABBOTT, ET AL. v. LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY (Includes Dissents)
SCOTUS Blog – Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricting map challenged as racially discriminatory
NPR – Supreme Court lets Texas use gerrymandered map that could give GOP 5 more House seats
Groups Taking Action:
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), NAACP, MALDEF
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State
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