Evenwel v. Abbott Decision

The Supreme Court building, located in Washington D.C. is
where the justices make these decisions. (photo courtesy of wikipedia)

On April 4, the eight Supreme Court justices decided the Evenwel v. Abbott case in favor of Abbott. The case dealt with a voter-redistricting in Texas that was implemented following a 2010 census. The Texas state legislature requires this analysis in the first senate legislative session after each census, since the population size may change in the districts. A three judge panel decided that the plan implemented after this census violated the Voting Rights Act and instituted an interim plan that plaintiffs (petitioners to the Supreme Court) Evenwel and Pfenniger claimed was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Their claim was based on the fact that the redistricting was based on total population instead of registered voter populations. These new districts were approximately equal in total population, but greatly varied in terms of registered-voter population.

The justices of this term. Justice Antonin Scalia (front row, second
from left) died during the term. The other justices unanimously decided
Evenwel v. Abbott in favor of Abbott. (photo courtesy of wikipedia)

The question the court was asked to decide in this case was whether districting should consider the population of registered voters in place of total population. When the court decided in favor of Abbott, it concluded in its opinion that districting based upon total population in place of voter population is constitutionally acceptable.
One simple reason for this being acceptable is that you never know which unregistered voters will decide to register and when, so I think it's reasonable to conclude that this is permissible. But, look to the opinion for the court's reasoning on this issue.
Following the decision, some media backlash has centered around the idea that this decision will benefit Democrats since more highly populated districts (including those with high numbers of illegal immigrant residents) will receive more representation with the smaller number of Democratic voters. This argument doesn't hold up as well as dissenters would like and you can check out this article for more information on that debate.
Whatever the dissenters have to say, however, Evenwel is now precedent for the Supreme Court and will guide redistricting in the nation.
What do you think of this decision? Let us know in the comments.