Tuesday, October 23, 2001

Minorities speak out at redistricting trial
By Connie Mabin
Associated Press

AUSTIN — There should be more opportunity for black and Hispanic Texans to elect candidates of their choice to Congress, several attorneys representing minorities told a federal panel Monday.

A string of lawyers had the same mantra during opening statements in the trial that will ultimately decide how Texas’ new congressional districts will look: ensuring that the federal Voting Rights Act protecting minority voters is not violated when that new map is drawn.

Because the 2000 census shows the state population has grown by 3.9 million to 20.9 million people, Texas will get two new U.S. representatives. Right now, Texas has 30 districts, 17 Democrat and 13 Republican.

“Latinos are the engine that drive the extraordinary growth in Texas,” said Nina Perales, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other Latino interests. She said the state’s 6.7 million Hispanics represent 60 percent of the Texas’ growth since 1990.

Texas currently has six congressional Hispanic districts. Perales’ clients want a seventh in southwest Texas.

“Latinos are such a large percentage of the state, one-third of the state is Latino, and without adequate numbers they will not be able to elect their candidate of choice,” Perales said.

“That could stop someone from having a voice on issues important to Latinos,” she said.

Morris Overstreet, a former judge and president of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, told the court the state should increase its two black districts to three to more fairly represent the 2.4 million black Texans.

He suggested District 25 near Houston be made an “opportunity district” in which a black candidate could be elected if the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Ken Bentsen, does not seek re-election.

Bentsen, a white Democrat, has said he’s considering running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.

“We made a good-faith effort to realize the dream,” Overstreet said of the map he was laying out for the judges. “What we’re asking for is just a fair opportunity.”

The minority advocates say they want a louder minority voice on issues like education, health care and economic development.

“This event will decide who you send there to Washington, to Congress, to make the decisions,” Overstreet said.

Much of the openings also focused on what map the judges — federal Circuit Court Judge Patrick Higginbotham and federal District Judges T. John Ward and John Hannah — should use as a starting point.

On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court threw out a state judge’s congressional map favored by Democrats. The court also refused Attorney General John Cornyn’s request to designate his plan favored by the GOP as the state map to be used in the federal trial.

Attorneys Rick Gray and Paul Smith, representing Democratic interests, said the court should use the state’s current congressional map as a starting point.

During the trial, Smith will push a map that would not pair any incumbent representatives. It would create a new black district in Houston and a Hispanic district in South Texas. He called the proposal “politically neutral.”

“What that plan is, your honor, is a Democratic incumbent protection plan,” said Jonathan Pauerstein, a lawyer representing U.S. Rep. Tom Delay and other Republicans.

Lawyers for both political parties said they want to uphold the Voting Rights Act by giving minorities a fair opportunity to elect minorities.