Circuit Court Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, has delivered a scathing 104-page dissent against U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown’s ruling to block Texas’ newly drawn congressional map. In a fiery response, Smith labeled the decision ‘the most blatant exercise of judicial activism’ he has ever witnessed, accusing Brown of ‘pernicious judicial misbehavior’ and failing to uphold the Rule of Law in favor of political interests.
Sitting on the bench for nearly three decades, Smith, a Yale Law School graduate, accused Brown of crafting a ruling that ‘lives in a fantasyland’ while allowing ‘judicial tinkering’ to manipulate the outcome. He claimed the majority opinion, authored by Trump appointee Brown, disregarded constitutional boundaries by enabling the creation of five Republican-leaning districts, arguing that this would ‘benefit George Soros and Gavin Newsom at the expense of the People of Texas.’
His dissent, which he openly admitted was ‘disjointed,’ came as part of a controversial 2-1 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to temporarily block the state’s redistricting map from being used in the 2026 midterms. Smith accused the two judges in the majority of acting without ‘judicial restraint,’ as they issued the ruling on Tuesday without waiting for his dissent to be considered, a move he condemned as ‘unfairly eager’ and politically motivated.
Smith’s harsh critique extended to the majority opinion itself, which he described as a ‘prime candidate’ for a ‘Nobel Prize for Fiction,’ highlighting the emotional and ideological nature of the ruling rather than its adherence to legal standards. He further argued that the decision would set a dangerous precedent by allowing politically driven courts to override state legislative processes, undermining the separation of powers.
The decision has significant implications for the upcoming midterms, with Texas requiring candidate declarations by December 8. The Supreme Court is now expected to step in, as both sides have turned to the high court to resolve the dispute. The case has already escalated political tensions within Texas, with Republican Governor Greg Abbott having already redirected redistricting to the legislature amidst accusations of racial gerrymandering from the Department of Justice.