Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has turned to the Supreme Court for relief in the state's redistricting fight. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Smith, a Yale Law School graduate, wrote that "if this were a law school exam, the opinion would deserve an ‘F.’"
Smith’s dissent came as part of a three-judge panel’s decision in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to temporarily block the state from using its map in the 2026 midterms. The map had created five new Republican-leaning districts, which the majority said was a product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has already turned to the Supreme Court for relief.
Just as striking as the dissent itself, which Smith conceded was "disjointed," was that the two judges in the majority did not wait for it, issuing their decision on Tuesday and leaving Smith's dissent to land on the docket a day later.
"Any pretense of judicial restraint, good faith, or trust by these two judges is gone," Smith wrote. "If these judges were so sure of their result, they would not have been so unfairly eager to issue the opinion sans my dissent, or they could have waited for the dissent in order to join issue with it. What indeed are they afraid of?"
Brown was joined in the 2-1 opinion by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts attends inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Reuters/File Photo)
"Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map," Brown wrote.
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Brown said Department of Justice Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon’s warning to Texas this year to address four districts with non-White majorities because they were "coalition" districts was a race-based directive as evidenced by Dhillon ignoring all other Democrat-leaning districts that had White majorities. Abbott had responded to Dhillon by adding redistricting to the legislative agenda in a rush, leading to a stunning protest involving Democratic state lawmakers fleeing the state earlier this year.
"The Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict based on race," Brown found.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
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