Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith has issued a dissent from the the three-judge district court panel’s 2-1 ruling prelimarily enjoining the Texas redistricting plan. The Fifth Circuit majority opinion was issued without the dissent and more or less hidden from view, thought it has exploded on X.
Rick Hasen has posted Judge Smith’s dissent in his post at Hasen’s Election Law Blog (it’s a group site, but Hasen is the proprietor). The three-judge panel’s 160-page opinion by District Judge Jeffrey Brown is posted here without Judge Smith’s dissent. Note 1 of Judge Brown’s opinion advised that Smith’s dissent would be posted later. That’s a new one on me (and, I take it, on Judge Smith).
Now is the time and Judge Smith is not happy about the course of events. Indeed, he is smoking hot about them. Hot Air’s John Sexton extracts some of the highlights in “Dissent: ‘…the Most Blatant Exercise of Judicial Activism That I Have Ever Witnessed.’”
I haven’t even had time to figure out the procedure applicable to the three-judge district court ruling let alone assess the merits of the argument. Until more learned commenters that I contribute their thoughts, I want to bring this important case to your attention.
