Court Opinion

ID: 9746932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:46:02.232888+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:18.421329
License: Public Domain

HITTNER, District Judge, specially concurring:
I join fully with my colleagues in the unanimous opinion herein and specially concur to highlight an area which has the potential to evolve into a significant issue in future instances of redistricting.
*1346The plaintiffs in this case did not challenge House Bill 11 on the basis of religious gerrymandering; however, testimony adduced at trial definitely indicated that religion did play a role in the creation of the Dallas County Congressional Districts.
Although religion has not been the central focus of redistricting litigation, the cases that have addressed the issue have repeatedly noted that using religion to create congressional districts may be as violative of the Fourteenth Amendment as racial considerations.2 It is certainly foreseeable that voting districts could be designed to exclude or include certain religious groups considered necessary to win an election if political candidates can create districts to assure electoral success rationalized as “incumbency protection” without regard for traditional districting principles.
In the instant case, the State of Texas attempted to legitimize the oddly configured Dallas congressional districts by partially attributing their contours to religious considerations, rather than solely to racial factors. One of the State’s witnesses, Chris Sharman, testified that Congressman Martin Frost wanted to exclude certain rural areas from his congressional district that he believed would be adverse to him because he is Jewish. See 6/29/94 TR. 3-206-09. This type of redistricting practice is another example of what the unanimous opinion characterizes as the representatives selecting the people rather than the people selecting their representatives through the balkanization of those groups who may either support or oppose them.3 This specific practice offends the principle of a democratic election process whereby representatives are elected by their constituents because they are the most qualified candidate rather than because they are members (or not members) of particular religious affiliations.
The idea that race or ethnicity, or language or religion might become the basis for distributing voters during the periodic redistricting process runs counter to our professed belief in the ‘oneness’ of American political life and to the belief in Democracy itself with its emphasis on the individual citizen. There is no one coherent political philosophy, political principle, or political program subsumed under such group labels as ‘black citizens,’ ‘white citizens,’ ‘Asian citizens,’ or ‘Hispanic citizens.’ ”
Turner v. Arkansas, 784 F.Supp. 553, 562 (E.D.Ark.1991).
Further, evidence in this case indicates that Congressional District 30 extends to the northern part of Dallas County specifically to include the Jewish Community Center and surrounding Jewish neighborhoods. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson expressly wanted the Dallas Jewish Community Center included in Congressional District 30. See Dep. of Weiser at 144-48; 6/29/94 TR. 3-190-92. The State’s exhibit 53, a districting map promulgated by the State of Texas Attorney General’s Office, depicts Congressional District 30, and parts of Congressional Districts 3, 5, 6, 12, 24, and 26, in Denton, *1347Collin, Rockwall, Kaufman, Tarrant, and Dallas Counties. This exhibit, entered into evidence by the State, expressly designates the “Dallas Jewish Community Center” in bold, red capital letters, with an arrow extending into a portion of Congressional District 30 wherein the Jewish religious symbol—the Star of David—prominently appears on the districting map; this is the only such designation on this entire exhibit aside from official district and county identifications. Johnson believed that not only did she have the support of members of the Dallas Jewish community but that, in the event that another African-American candidate ran against her, she would have the support of white, Jewish voters. See Dep. of Weiser at 112, 144-48; 6/29/94 TR. 3-190-92.
With future sophisticated advances in computer technology, legislators no doubt may also be able to determine the religious affiliation of households. This practice of custom-building districts, by hand picking which groups, including religious groups, should be included in or excluded from a district, directly implicates equal protection principles.
*1348APPENDIX
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*1351ORDER
This court has carefully reviewed the briefs and submissions of parties pertaining to the question of relief from the unconstitutional Congressional districts created by the state of Texas, and, based upon the applicable law and the facts as represented to this court, it is hereby:
ORDERED
1. That the fall 1994 Congressional elections for the state of Texas shall proceed according to the districts created by the 1991 plan C657;
2. that the Texas legislature shall develop on or before March 15,1995, a new Congressional redistricting plan in conformity with this court’s previous opinion during the 1995 regular legislative session that convenes on January 10, 1995;
3. that on or shortly after March 15, 1995, this court will hold a remedial hearing on the status of the legislature’s redistricting efforts;
4. that plaintiffs shall submit their application for attorneys fees and costs within 30 days of the date hereof; and
5. that all other relief sought by the parties in their post-trial submissions on relief is denied.

. House Bill 1, the challenged plan, was passed by the second called session of the 72nd Texas Legislature and signed into law by the governor on August 29, 1991.

. The principle of equality is at war with the notion-that District A must be represented by a Negro, as it is with the notion that District B must be represented by a Caucasian, District C by a Jew, District D by a Catholic, and so on ... That system, by whatever name it is called, is a divisive force in the community, emphasizing differences between candidates and voters that are irrelevant in the constitutional sense.
Shaw v. Reno, - U.S. -, -, 113 S.Ct. 2816, 2827, 125 L.Ed.2d 511 (1993) (quoting Justice Douglas' dissenting opinion in Wright v. Rockefeller, 376 U.S. 52, 66-67, 84 S.Ct. 603, 610-11, 11 L.Ed.2d 512 (1964)).

.In United Jewish Organization v. Carey, 430 U.S. 144, 185-86, 97 S.Ct. 996, 1019-20, 51 L.Ed.2d 229 (1977), Justice Stewart, concurring in the judgment wrote that:
Although reference to racial composition of a political unit may, under certain circumstances, serve as 'a starting point in the process of shaping a remedy' ... rigid adherence to quotas, especially in a case like this, deprives citizens ... the opportunity to have the legislature make a determination free from unnecessary bias for or against any racial, ethnic, or religious group.
Justice Stewart further added that “mathematical formulas and quotas in districts sustain ghettos by marshalling religious groups into enclaves.” (Stewart, J., concurring).