Most Americans don't know the name Petteway v. Galveston County — but it may be the single most consequential redistricting ruling of the decade. J. Christian Adams of the Public Interest Legal Foundation argued that case en banc in the Fifth Circuit, where the entire appellate court reversed precedent and held that the Voting Rights Act does not require so-called "coalition districts" that glue minority groups together to create majority-minority seats.
The downstream effect: Texas dismantled four coalition districts. Four or five congressional seats just flipped Republican. California responded with a racially-saturated map of its own — which the Public Interest Legal Foundation is now suing to overturn after the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision.
In this segment, Christian walks Jenny Beth Martin through:
• What Petteway v. Galveston actually held — and what it didn't
• The Illinois statute that mandates racial coalition districts
• Why Pritzker's open call for racially diverse legislative maps is a 15th Amendment violation
• The other states next on the lawsuit list: Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, New York
• Why this is some of the hardest legal work in the country
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00:00 — Public Interest Legal Foundation sues Illinois
00:35 — Illinois statutory racial redistricting law
01:10 — Governor Pritzker's diversity-in-maps demand
01:45 — Mini state voting rights acts: Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, New York
02:15 — Petteway v. Galveston en banc Fifth Circuit ruling
02:45 — Coalition districts and what the ruling actually said
03:15 — Texas dismantles four coalitions and seats flip Republican
03:45 — California responds with a racially saturated map
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