This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an
order formally establishing the expedited briefing schedule for the four cases regarding the Tom DeLay-initiated Texas redistricting.
- Appellants'/Petitioners' opening briefs are to be filed and served by 3pm on Jan. 10, 2006;
- Appellees'/Respondents' opposition briefs are to be filed and served by 3pm on Feb. 1, 2006;
- Appellants'/Petitioners' reply briefs are to be filed and served by 3pm on Feb. 22, 2006.
A combined oral argument is set for 1:00 pm on Wednesday, March 1, 2006. The Court had previously noted that two hours would be set aside for oral argument. The merits briefs will be posted
here shortly after they are filed with the Court. Briefs filed by
amici curiae (of which there will doubtless be many) may be more difficult to obtain at first, but should be available somewhere, given the keen interest in these cases.
More below.
The expedited schedule may indicate that the Court hopes to be able to announce its decision in these cases well before the end of the current term at the end of June. In the (in my opinion, very unlikely) event that DeLay's redistricting plan is overturned, the earlier date would better enable Texas to put the necessary pieces back together for a return to the
status quo ante district boundaries which had been in effect for the 2002 elections.
This would still present some major hurdles, however, considering that the current filing deadline for candidates is Jan. 2, with the primaries set for March 7. (Source: Politics1 and FEC websites.) These are among the earliest dates anywhere in the nation. Obviously, some serious scrambling would need to occur should the Court overturn the current boundaries.
A more likely scenario -- if the Court doesn't merely uphold the redistricting effort -- would be a remand to the lower courts, possibly for consideration of further evidence, such as the Justice Department memo (73-page PDF), which is not yet in evidence and cannot directly enter into the Justices' consideration of the matters before them, which must be based solely on the record from the courts below. It is entirely possible that some party will attempt to lodge the memo with the Supreme Court, but it is unlikely to be added to the record at this stage.