Texas: publication of dissenting opinion in redistricting ruling makes has turned the case red-hot

Judge Jerry Smith sharply criticized that a federal court in El Paso blocked the use of Texas' new congressional map, a key piece in the Republican Party's strategy to expand its bench in the House of Representatives heading into the midterm elections in 2026.

Smith accused his colleague, Jeffrey Brown—author of the majority opinion—of “pernicious judicial misbehavior” in a lengthy brief of at least 104 pages in which he addressed the case.

“In my 37 years on the federal bench, this is the most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered in a case in which I have been involved,” Judge Smith wrote in the brief obtained by media outlets such as The Hill.

His position was known a day after the decision, issued by a divided three-judge panel, which orders the state to use the districts approved in 2021 while the litigation continues, was released.

In that regard, Smith explained that the delay was because Judge Brown refused to wait for him to finish and, in his view, they rushed to issue the ruling after Smith said he had not concluded his part of the case.

"The resulting dissent is far from a literary masterpiece. If, however, there were a Nobel Prize for Fiction, Judge Brown’s opinion would be a prime candidate," Smith wrote.

Similarly, Smith argued that the majority's ruling is “replete with legal and factual error, and accompanied by naked procedural abuse." He highlighted that redrawing the state's congressional districts is partisan gain. He pointed out that Brown was wrong to conclude that state lawmakers are "more bigots than politicians."

"It’s all politics, on both sides of the partisan aisle. George and Alex Soros have their hands all over this," Smith wrote.

He also recalled that California's governor celebrated redistricting in Houston: "Gavin Newsom took a victory lap in Houston to celebrate the Democrat redistricting win with Proposition 50. That tells you all that you need to know – this is about partisan politics, plain and simple."

"Darkness descends on the Rule of Law. A bumpy night, indeed," Judge Smith added.