Supreme Court Upholds Most of Texas Redistricting

AP reports that The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out part but kept most of a Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights. … Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Hispanics do not have a chance to elect a candidate of their choosing under the plan. Republicans picked up six Texas congressional seats two years ago, and the court's ruling does not seriously threaten those gains. Lawmakers, however, will have to adjust boundary lines to address the court's concerns. --- This one eludes me. The Constitution says this about apportionment: From Article. I. Section. 2.: The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. It's the only place in the Constitution where an explicitly stated timeframe is specified as a directive, yet the Texas redistricting at issue was the second done within ten years. The mortal combat of partisanship which has come to exist suggests that redistricting will in future become an occurrence as frequent as a state's partisan majority decides it is necessary. via Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker. update: Adam B at dailykos provides some analysis. update2: Charles Kuffner has lots more.