To the editor: Contributing writer Erwin Chemerinsky’s recent op-ed should be required reading for all who support our constitutional democracy (“The Supreme Court’s 3 terrible reasons for allowing Texas’ racially rigged map,” Dec. 5).
There are so many things wrong with the Supreme Court’s blocking of the lower court’s reasoned opinion that ruled the Texas redistricting map unconstitutional. As Chemerinsky points out, the three reasons given by the Supreme Court in its unsigned opinion are blatant sophistry and result in effectively making it impossible for anyone to challenge a legislature’s action in redistricting anytime in advance of a midterm congressional election.
What’s more, this decision comes from the court’s “shadow docket,” meaning it is rendered without briefing or oral argument — but nonetheless gives a green light to the challenged redistricting map for this upcoming election.
The rationale that a map drawn for purely partisan political purposes might be constitutionally permissible is stunning. In 2019, in Rucho vs. Common Cause, Chief Justice John Roberts (in upholding a redistricting map) wrote: “Excessive partisanship in districting leads to results that reasonably seem unjust. But the fact that such gerrymandering is ‘incompatible with democratic principles’ does not mean that the solution lies with the federal judiciary.” But this is where we are.
James Stiven, Cardiff
This writer is a retired U.S. magistrate judge.
..
To the editor: Chemerinsky is outraged that Texas is allowed to redraw its congressional maps, which are designed to elect five more Republicans to the House of Representatives. Would it be proper to ban Texas from doing this after California has already found legal avenues to do something similar? I’m not sure how all states can be forced to draw districts that are reasonable and fair, but Chemerinsky seems to lament the gerrymandering practice in Texas without mentioning complaints when it happens in California.
David Waldowski, Laguna Woods
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To the editor: Although Chemerinsky accurately describes the Supreme Court’s stated reasons for the decision, the actual rationale was probably much more cynical.
First, Texas racially rigged its election district maps to favor Trump in the midterms. Second, California rigged its own maps in response, but did it better by putting it to statewide vote. Lastly, the Texas stunt got challenged in court on solid constitutional grounds and looked like it might lose, so that the whole thing might backfire against our man President Trump. And, well, we can’t have that, can we?
Ronald Ellsworth, La Mesa
When asked Saturday what makes this year’s iteration of the Texas Tech women’s basketball team different, coach Krista Gerlich had an understandable response: the players.
Among the newcomers making an impact toward the Lady Raiders’ turnaround is Jada Malone. The 6-foot-3 forward transferred from Texas A&M in the offseason and has proven to be a welcome addition down low.
Malone had one of her best games of the season in the 65-59 loss to Kansas State. She may have earned more opportunities as Tech (19-1, 6-1) enters the heart of Big 12 competition.
Malone scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and went 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. She had one rebound and one assist in 19 minutes, her most playing time since Jan. 3.
“She gave us the inside presence,” Gerlich said. “We knew that we needed more paint touches, just to be able to loosen up the perimeter defenders for us. I thought she did a great job of just being really smart with the basketball, and patient. When she needed to score, she scored. When she needed to pass, she passed. And she defended really well, too.”
Gerlich said that was a revelation after Malone saw two minutes in the first half for fear of how she’d match up with a guard-heavy Wildcats team.
“We were afraid that they might exploit her a little bit,” Gerlich said, “but we found the right matchup that we needed on defense. I thought that she really did a nice job for us offensively and defensively, to be honest.”
Malone is tied for fourth on the team with 8.0 points per game, while adding 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.5 steals in 15.7 minutes. She shoots a team-high 67% from the field and is a 75.9% free-throw shooter. Malone is a scoring option down low not before seen under Gerlich.
“Certainly this offseason we knew that that was something that we needed to address,” Gerlich said Dec. 3. “That and the point guard position. We went after Jada Malone and knew that she could do exactly what she’s doing for us. She made it perfectly clear of what she was looking for as well. She’s been so bought-in from the word ‘go.’”
The comments came after Malone’s season-high 19-point, 10-rebound outing against Wichita State. She went 9 of 9 on free throws and also posted season-bests in assists (3) and blocks (2).
Malone also drew praise from her teammate that night.
“When they can’t stop her inside, just give her the ball,” guard Denae Fritz said. “And then when they start finally stopping her, she’s really good at giving us the ball on the outside and getting us really good looks and getting us the ball in shooters’ pockets. It’s really fun to play with her.”
Beyond scoring, Malone said she prides herself on that aspect of her offensive game. She added how thankful she is that all the players are on the same page.
“I’ve had teams where our chemistry wasn’t that great,” Malone said. “I was very fortunate to come here and have an amazing team, have everybody be on the same mindset, have the same goals. It has a lot to do with our chemistry off the court, and I think you can tell that on the court as well.”
In this week’s episode, hosts Matthew and Eleanor speak with Texas Tribune reporter Colleen DeGuzman and Houston-based immigration attorney Paul Pirela about immigration enforcement in Texas. What’s ICE doing in Texas? How are Texas immigrants being affected? And what is the Trump administration saying about its efforts?
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