tate
THE BATTALION Page 7A
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1981
gCtedistricting divisions
laimed unconstitutional
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United Press International
ilina, Georeia J STIN - TheTexas Legisla-
' ’ played games” in drawing
ew House districts and un-
sarily divided at least four
i counties in violation of the
constitution, attorneys chal-
e states arejrf. theT « esda y
artJ 6 ™ 6 State Supreme Court.
ie plaintiffs in the case —
U ' S \
C * 0e T 1 ling three House members
^ic«„g Plan
nconstitutional. A Travis
itydistrict court earlier in the
ler agreed with their conten-
that the plan violated a state
vere being
a number (
also said lie b
t }•£ • i lUoi me uian vic/iaicu a otaic;
. ornia ™ ti jtutional provision against di-
s set u]
■ansporting
jnties.
counties, and ruled the
unconstitutional.
w in \ n lief Justice Joe R. Greenhill
: Medfly) spri fuesday the Supreme Court
K , e [' s aa l ! t . 111 lytorule on the state’s appeal
ed that Califon® naweeki
ir road stations,
lie court recognizes that time
, . , . the essence, and it is the de-
id n,ne i ca J slI1 ‘H ) ftl ie court to reach a decision
n as possible, but in all
5 within a week, ” he said at
aso with fruit c« n
uarantined area:
s. Its unbelied (oseofmore than two hours of
Id do that, butiti
the powers
commission
imes out of tk
n their cars
could be
»jail.”
nents.
(avid Richards, the attorney
hose challenging the redis-
an, contended the Leg-
ife could easily have drawn
irtionment plans that would
ave divided El Paso, Webb,
:es and Potter counties.
The cutting of those urban
ties was not required, either
ie Voting Rights Act or the
S\Y\/\ man-one vote principal,
ardssaid.
Jr * said Rep. Tim Von Dohlen,
, chairman of the House
C* n fffftfrcting committee, had
bdli was Legislature’s
/ ogative to divide the counties
two or more districts to
. , e districts more uniform in
and serve onli:
esT have filedi| rh e Legislature chose to say,
irban areas we can ignore tbe
Jtitution and take the excess
waste the« j| a ti on an d put it where we
tto,”’ said Don Gladden, who
esents an intervener in the
challenging the redistricting
House plan were used to comply
with the federal requirements that
supersede state constitutional
provisions.
District Judge Harley Clark
had declared in July that the Leg
islature’s plan was unconstitution
al, saying that at least 12 of the 34
cuts across county lines in the plan
were unconstitutional.
Clark ruled the districts com
prising Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tar
rant and El Paso counties -— the
state’s most populous — were
drawn unconstitutionally. He also
said cuts in the boundaries of Pot
ter, Webb, Gregg, Nueces,
Erath, Cooke and Coryell coun
ties were unconstitutional.
The Texas Constitution states
that county boundaries are to be
preserved whenever possible dur
ing the reapportionment process.
However, if a county has too much
population to form a single dis
trict, the excels may be used to
form a district in an adjoining
county.
In its brief, the state says that
providing equal representation,
not preserving county bound
aries, is the primary concern of
.redistricting.
Rep. Tim Von Dohlen, D-
Goliad, was chairman of the
House Committee on Regions
Compacts and District, which was
responsible for drafting the plan.
Von Dohlen told the district
court that the county line cuts
were made to comply with over
riding federal concerns such as the
Voting Rights Act and the princi
ple of one man-one vote.
However, Clark indicated that
the Legislature took a “fundamen
tally erroneous” approach to re
districting because it did not give
preservation of county lines prop
er consideration.
Also at issue is the acceptable
level of deviation in the popula
tions of the various 150 House dis
tricts that make up the state.
By dividing the state’s popula
tion by the 150 districts, the Leg
islature arrived at the ideal sized
district (94,856 people). Previous
U.S. Supreme Court cases have
stated that an overall deviation of
10 percent from the ideal district
population is acceptable.
Clark said the Legislature
should have worked to preserve
county boundaries while drawing
districts with deviations of less
than 10 percent.
Should the court uphold the
lower-court ruling, the House
reapportionment plan will then be
redrawn by a redistricting board
composed of Speaker Bill Clayton,
Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, Land Com
missioner Bob Armstrong, Attor
ney General Mark White and
Comptroller Bob Bullock.
The redistricting board already
is faced with redrawing districts
for the Senate. A Senate reappor
tionment plan passed by the Leg
islature was vetoed by Gov. Bill
Clements.
Clements said the Senate plan
failed to represent minorities ade
quately and also didn’t plan for
expected growth in urban areas.
r
d, "My issues*
sis. My main com
some answers-
en tampered*! attorney representing the
in ajelephonei! ^ Steve Bickerstaff, said man-
s of the Voting Rights Act and
man-one vote provisions re-
y about an in# > e that counties be divided in
reapportionment plan, and
leorybutlgavet j| e divisions made in the
: it. There’s i
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is appealing a
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mying Eddo*|
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