Trump Judge Who Blocked Texas Redistricting Had Won GOP Praise

US District Judge Jeffrey Brown owes much of his judicial career to President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, but his opinion halting their redistricting plan to bolster Republican power nationally came as no surprise to judges who’ve worked with him.

“He’s just a straight shooter,” said former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht. “He believes in the rule of law.”

The federal district judge was appointed by Trump and clerked for Abbott when the governor was a Texas Supreme Court justice. He was also praised by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) as someone who “decides cases based on the rule of law” when he was confirmed in 2019.

The 160-page opinion from Brown, writing for a three-judge panel, dealt a potentially fatal blow Tuesday to Trump’s midterm plan with Abbott to add five new Republican House seats in Texas, a move meant to help Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives. It was the second time this month that a Republican-appointed judge gave the GOP a redistricting loss, after Utah Judge Dianna Gibson rejected a map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature Nov. 10.

Brown’s 2-1 ruling rejected arguments from Texas that the rare mid-decade redraw was for political reasons, holding instead that race was a factor. The new lines Abbott approved target only minorities, Brown wrote, emphasizing that a letter from the Justice Department threatening legal action if Texas didn’t draw new districts made no mention of districts with White Democrats as the majority.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/trump-judge-who-blocked-texas-redistricting-had-won-gop-praise