DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

The Foundry.

On Tuesday, the media was filled with stories that a three-judge panel had voted 2-1 to issue a 160-page order blocking the Texas legislature’s new congressional redistricting plan.

The order claimed the redistricting was unlawfully based on race as opposed to partisanship—a claim at odds with what we all saw happen in the partisan political fight within the state legislature, which included a walkout by Democrat legislators.

What wasn’t attached to the order was the dissenting opinion by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith, a 37-year veteran of the federal judiciary who is greatly respected for his legal acumen. His 104-page dissent came out a day later and marks the most scathing denunciation I have ever read of another judge.

In this case, the judge being denounced is Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown, who wrote the majority decision, along with Judge David Guaderrama, who joined the opinion.

I know Jerry Smith. I would not want to be on the other side of him in an argument. I have seen it done; it is not a pretty sight.

The intersting thing is that this is a District Court decision but included on the panel Judge Smith, who sits on the Fifth Circuit. I can only assume that he was there to help out with the District Court load.

I have no doubt that this will be moved for a rehearing en banc, and I doubt that it will survive. If it survives that process, I am sure that it will be appealed to the Fifth Circuit; and, if I were a betting man, I would be that the Fifth Circuit will beat it into the ground like a tent peg.

What were they thinking?

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2025 at 16:56 and is filed under Your tax dollars at work - and play.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.