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Texas Gerrymandering Case Prompts Fifth Circuit Judge to Crash Out In Alarming, Antisemitic Fashion - Balls and Strikes [View all]
Balls and StrikesA divided panel of three federal judges issued a preliminary order on Tuesday blocking Texas’s electoral map, which Texas Republican lawmakers adopted in August at the behest of the Trump administration, as an illegal racial gerrymander. In an opinion joined by Judge David Guaderrama, Judge Jeffrey Brown concluded that Texas had redrawn the boundaries of four districts “for one reason and one reason alone: the racial demographics of the voters who live there.”
Somewhat unusually, the court published the 160-page majority opinion without the dissent. Brown, a district court judge appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, said in a footnote on the first page that a dissent by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry E. Smith would follow. (Under federal law, challenges to the constitutionality of congressional districts are heard by three-judge panels that include at least one appeals court judge.)
On Wednesday, follow it did: Smith unleashed an 104-page tirade filled with antisemitic dog whistles, personal and professional attacks against Brown, and indignation at the idea that Texas lawmakers could be racist. In his opening line, Smith, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, gives readers a thoughtful warning. “Fasten your seatbelts,” he said. “It’s going to be a bumpy night!”
Before moving into the legal substance, Smith includes a “preliminary statement” to explain why the majority opinion was published without his dissent—or, in his words, “to highlight the pernicious judicial misbehavior of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown.” According to Smith, the panel voted in October, but he heard nothing from the two judges in the majority for weeks, until they gave him an outline of their opinion on November 5. Then, on November 12, Brown informed Smith that they planned to publish the opinion in three days. “Sadly, we do not believe we can wait for a dissenting opinion before we rule,” Brown said.
Somewhat unusually, the court published the 160-page majority opinion without the dissent. Brown, a district court judge appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, said in a footnote on the first page that a dissent by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry E. Smith would follow. (Under federal law, challenges to the constitutionality of congressional districts are heard by three-judge panels that include at least one appeals court judge.)
On Wednesday, follow it did: Smith unleashed an 104-page tirade filled with antisemitic dog whistles, personal and professional attacks against Brown, and indignation at the idea that Texas lawmakers could be racist. In his opening line, Smith, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, gives readers a thoughtful warning. “Fasten your seatbelts,” he said. “It’s going to be a bumpy night!”
Before moving into the legal substance, Smith includes a “preliminary statement” to explain why the majority opinion was published without his dissent—or, in his words, “to highlight the pernicious judicial misbehavior of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown.” According to Smith, the panel voted in October, but he heard nothing from the two judges in the majority for weeks, until they gave him an outline of their opinion on November 5. Then, on November 12, Brown informed Smith that they planned to publish the opinion in three days. “Sadly, we do not believe we can wait for a dissenting opinion before we rule,” Brown said.
Will someone who loves and cares about Jerry Smith take away his Fox News machine
— Balls & Strikes (@ballsandstrikes.org) 2025-11-20T21:38:00.713Z
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