ABA Midyear Meeting 2016: Evenwel v. Abbott and Electoral Redistricting

At the American Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting, there was a discussion about Evenwel v. Abbott, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that will determine the constitutionality of a Texas legislative redistricting plan that could have extensive implications if the state’s approach is overturned. In this episode of Special Reports, Laurence Colletti interviews presenters Dr. John Eastman and Thomas Saenz about Evenwel v. Abbott, the issues of voting rights and federalism, and the impact of Justice Scalia’s death on this important case. Eastman and Saenz then debate their opposing viewpoints on how to redistrict: according to population or according to eligible voters in a given district.

Dr. John Eastman, from the Chapman University Fowler School of Law in Orange, California, is a former Supreme Court Law Clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. In 1999 he founded the Center for Constitutional Jurist Prudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. Their mission is to recover the principles of the American Founding in their Constitutional Jurist Prudence.

Thomas Saenz is president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national civil rights legal organization whose mission is to promote the civil and constitutional rights of all latinos living in the United States. They focus on the areas of employment, education, immigrant rights, and voting rights.