Thursday, August 1, 1996

Judges in Redistricting Case Plan To Draw Their Own Map

By Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) - Three federal judges, armed with more than a dozen maps of designs for Texas' congressional districts, are heading to Austin to design a plan of their own, an attorney in the redistricting case said Wednesday.

Paul Hurd, a lawyer representing the Republican voter group that argued successfully in a lawsuit that racial criteria were used improperly in drawing the districts, said the judicial panel announced its intention during a meeting in closed chambers.

The judges were striving to meet their own deadline of Aug. 8 to issue a ruling in the "racial gerrymandering" case.

Three districts - the 18th and 29th in Houston and the 30th in Dallas - were found unconstitutional by the Texas judges two years ago. Their decision has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The judges have picked a former employee of the Texas Legislative Counsel and will designate a current council employee to help them draw new lines on a computer in Austin, Hurd said.

The judges - Appeals Court Judge Edith Jones and U.S. District Court judges David Hittner and Melinda Harmon - are considering implementing new boundaries this year. They have hinted that up to 14 districts may have to be redrawn if they do the work.

The panel could throw out results from the March primaries and April runoffs in the 18th, 29th and 30th districts and adjacent ones and order an open, all-party election on Nov. 5.

The judges' other choice is to allow this year's elections to proceed under the current, unconstitutional lines.

"It still has the option before it not to order an election, but it is going forward with developing a new districting plan to be implemented in November 1996," Hurd said.

"The court said it's going to move expeditiously," he added.

In addition to the plaintiffs, other parties in the case, including Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock and state House Speaker Pete Laney, submitted different maps to the court earlier this week.

Judges in a similar case in North Carolina ruled Tuesday that congressional campaigns were too far along to redraw all 12 districts in that state before Election Day.