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A U.S. District Judge ruled Friday that Galveston County violated the federal Voting Rights Act in 2021 when it drew new districts for its commissioners court.
Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled the county’s 2021 commissioners court precinct map “denies Black and Latino voters the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and the opportunity to elect a representative of their choice to the commissioners court.” As a result, the county has been ordered to redraw the map by Oct. 20.
The lawsuit stands as the first county-level redistricting case since the most recent census that drew intervention from the federal government.
The trial, which began in August, focused on how the county utilized its first opportunity to redraw precincts without federal oversight to break up the sole commissioner precinct where Black and Latino voters made up a majority of the electorate. Precinct 3, where Black and Latino residents had built political groups and selected their representative on the court, was chopped in the 2021 map.
The map split up Black and Latino communities so white voters could make up at least 62% of the electorate in each of the four precincts. Consequently, Black and Latino voters had their electoral power quelled as white voters in Galveston tend to support different candidates.
Prior to the redistricting, Republicans held a 4-1 majority on the court. The only Democrat was Precinct 3’s Stephen Holmes, a Black man who was appointed to the court in 2011 and was kept in office by voters in 2012, 2016 and 2020. No commissioners court election has been held since the new maps were drawn.
As a result of the court’s decision, the nomination or election of county commissioners from the current precinct map may not be administered, enforced, prepared for or permitted. The commissioners court must now adopt a new plan before Nov. 11, 2023, for the upcoming 2024 election.
For More: Federal Judge Strikes Down Galveston County, Texas Commissioners Court Districts for Violating Voting Rights Act.
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About Judge Jeff Brown:
- Wikipedia.
Jeffrey Vincent Brown (born March 27, 1970) is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and a former associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court by President Donald Trump.
Brown's father was a police officer. In 1988, Brown graduated from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas and his Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center at which he served as one of the editors of the Houston Law Review. He served as a law clerk to Texas Supreme Court Justices Jack Hightower and Greg Abbott, the subsequent governor of Texas. He became certified in civil trial law and practiced with the Houston firm of Baker Botts L.L.P.
From 2001 to 2007, Judge Brown served as a judge of the 55th Texas State District Court in Harris County, Texas. Judge Jeff Brown was appointed to the trial court by Governor Rick Perry in December 2001, won an opposed election to that bench in November 2002, and won re-election in 2006.
. . . On March 8, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Brown to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. On March 11, 2019, President Trump nominated Brown to the seat vacated by Judge Melinda Harmon, who assumed senior status on March 31, 2018. On April 10, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The American Bar Association unanimously rated Brown well qualified for the position. On May 9, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On July 30, 2019, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–37 vote. On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–40 vote. He received his judicial commission on September 4, 2019. He was sworn into office on September 11, 2019.
