Today, nonprofit, nonpartisan civil rights and racial justice organizations, led by the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction in League of United Latin American Citizens, et al., v. State of Texas, et al. LDF’s amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief argues that the Court should block Texas’s newly enacted and racially discriminatory 2025 congressional map from going into effect before the 2026 elections.
In August, during an extraordinary special session calling for mid-decade redistricting, the Texas legislature passed a congressional map that weakens electoral opportunities for Black and Hispanic voters, particularly in the Harris County and the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Texas surgically targeted for redrawing these districts with significant numbers of Black and Hispanic voters. Rather than addressing the constitutional issues in Texas’s prior congressional map, the legislature doubled down on racial discrimination by again using an impermissibly race-driven process to enact a new congressional map that discriminates against Black and Hispanic voters.
In attempting to conceal their discrimination, the Texas legislature passed the new congressional map in a rushed, non-transparent, and non-democratic process, ignoring overwhelming public testimony warning of the harms the new map would bring to Black and other Texans.
Texas is home to the largest total number of eligible Black voters in the country. Opportunities for Black and Hispanic voters are not zero sum. It is possible in a fairly drawn congressional map to protect the electoral opportunities for both Black and Hispanic voters in Texas.
The amicus brief, which provides additional information to the court, was filed by LDF on behalf of LDF, Black Voters Matter, the Houston Area Urban League, Barbara Jordan Leadership Institute, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, League of Women Voters, and League of Women Voters of Texas, who issued a joint statement:
“Black voters and other voters of color deserve fair representation — not to be harmed through unlawful maneuvering. The use of this new congressional map threatens to undermine their ability to elect leaders who understand their communities and will work with them to address urgent and ongoing challenges. Our Constitution protects against efforts that weaken the voices of Black voters and other communities of color. We must remain steadfast in the pursuit of equal and fair representation for every community. The strength of our multiracial democracy in Texas, and across the nation, depends on it.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
