{"id":59033,"date":"2025-11-21T07:54:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T07:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/59033\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T07:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T07:54:21","slug":"judges-dissent-is-one-of-the-most-unhinged-opinions-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/59033\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge\u2019s dissent is one of the most unhinged opinions ever."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for the Slatest<\/a> to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, one day after a federal court struck down<\/a> Texas\u2019 new Republican gerrymander, Judge Jerry Smith, a Ronald Reagan appointee, published his belated dissent from the 2\u20131 decision. It is one of the most unhinged opinions ever published by an American jurist. Smith\u2019s 104-page screed<\/a>, released a day after the majority opinion, is a rancid gumbo of feverish conspiracy theories and character assassination: He invokes the liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros no fewer than 17 times, deriding the plaintiff\u2019s expert witness as a \u201cSoros operative\u201d who draws millions from \u201chis Soros piggybank.\u201d He accuses Soros and his son Alex of having \u201ctheir hands all over\u201d the case, darkly warning that the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers were doing the bidding of their \u201cSoros connections\u201d and the \u201cDemocrat Party.\u201d He impugns the integrity of his own colleagues on the bench, including a Donald Trump appointee who sided against him, charging them with \u201cdisingenuously false\u201d claims to serve \u201cSoros a victory\u201d on \u201ca silver platter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, a 79-year-old who has served for nearly four decades, also reveals private communications between judges about the case, a startling breach of judicial protocol. He denounces the author of the majority opinion<\/a>\u2014Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a conservative Trump nominee\u2014for what he deems \u201cthe most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered in a case in which I have been involved.\u201d Indeed, his dissent begins with a flamboyant \u201cpreliminary statement\u201d airing various grievances against Brown that are irrelevant to the law. (These boil down to Brown\u2019s \u201cunthinkable\u201d desire to \u2026 release his opinion as quickly as possible to avoid interference with the 2026 midterms.) Smith precedes all this with a quote from Bette Davis in All About Eve: \u201cFasten your seat belts. It\u2019s going to be a bumpy night!\u201d<\/p>\n

We may never see a better argument for judicial term limits than this dissent, which (at best) exposes an elder jurist\u2019s brain pickled in the brine of Fox News conspiracy theories and (at worst) raises serious questions about competence and senility. But there is a silver lining to this unfortunate episode: Smith utterly failed to refute the majority\u2019s conclusion that the Texas Legislature unlawfully re-sorted voters on the basis of race. Beneath all the rhetorical Sturm und Drang, his rejoinder amounts to a credulous belief that Texas\u2019 main mapmaker accidentally created a near-textbook racial gerrymander without ever considering race. It\u2019s a theory that evaporates upon contact with reality, and is nowhere near enough to overcome the overwhelming racial data that the majority meticulously dissects. The Supreme Court\u2019s GOP appointees will still do whatever they want with this gerrymander, but Smith fails to provide a convincing fig leaf behind which to hide their partisan aims.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s majority opinion in the case, LULAC v. Abbott, presents a straightforward theory of unconstitutional racial discrimination. He explains that Trump wanted the Texas Legislature to redraw its congressional map before the 2026 midterms to give Republicans additional seats in the House of Representatives. The Legislature was resistant, in part because it feared backlash from such brazenly partisan map-rigging. So the president\u2019s Department of Justice provided a pretense<\/a>: It asserted (falsely<\/a>) that the state\u2019s existing map was an unlawful racial gerrymander and threatened to sue unless lawmakers redrew it. The DOJ insisted that the earlier map, in effect, gave Black and Hispanic communities too much power by combining them as majority \u201ccoalitions\u201d in several districts. So it ordered the legislature to dismantle these districts. The Legislature complied, dispersing Black and Hispanic voters across districts to eliminate their \u201ccoalitions\u201d while keeping majority-white districts largely intact.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s chief response to this argument is that \u2026 George and Alex Soros funded a coterie of lawyers and expert witnesses who fabricated this sequence of events to trick the judiciary into helping the \u201cDemocrat Party.\u201d He accuses the plaintiffs\u2019 attorneys and witnesses\u2014by name, one by one\u2014of having dark financial ties to Soros. For instance, Smith dismisses the credibility of one expert witness because he leads the UCLA Voting Rights Project, an initiative \u201cSoros has been pumping money into\u201d for \u201cyears.\u201d (I found no evidence that Soros funds this project<\/a>, an esteemed academic research center that promotes \u201cequitable and accessible voting for all Americans.\u201d) If, Smith writes, \u201cwe are to tell it like it is, we must recognize that the well-funded machinery that I have just identified is all about\u201d a \u201cpolitical crusade\u201d to give Democrats a House majority. \u201cAnd the public is entitled to know who\u2019s really driving this bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

A surprising amount of the opinion is also consumed by outrage that Brown released his majority opinion before Smith could finish his dissent. (Election cases like this one are heard by a three-judge district court: Brown and David C. Guaderrama are federal trial judges, while Smith sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.) He provides a blow-by-blow account of the days leading up to the ruling\u2019s publication, including internal communications between the judges that, as a rule, are never shared with the public. Yet they reveal nothing nefarious whatsoever: Brown wanted to release his opinion as quickly as possible so lawmakers would have enough time to implement it, as the Supreme Court requires<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern
\n Why It Matters That Trump\u2019s DOJ Got Caught by a Judge Blatantly Lying\u2014Again
\n Read More\n <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Smith writes, \u201cThis outrage speaks for itself,\u201d but does it? SCOTUS sometimes hands down<\/a> orders before a dissenter has had time to finish an opinion\u2014this occurred most recently just seven months ago<\/a>. When a case is time-sensitive, as LULAC v. Abbott surely is, it makes practical sense to release the decision when it\u2019s ready. Otherwise, the dissenter could thwart the majority\u2019s will by dragging their feet to run out the clock. Which is, a cynic might assume, exactly what Smith wished to do here.<\/p>\n

Once Smith finally arrives at the substance of the case, he can no longer hide what a weak hand he is playing. Beneath all the bluffing lies a determination of credibility. Put simply: Was Adam Kincaid, the Republican operative<\/a> who drew Texas\u2019 new map, telling the truth when he claimed he didn\u2019t consider race in the process? Or did the plaintiffs persuasively demonstrate that these districts were drawn, at least in part, along racial lines? Brown finds ample reasons not to \u201ccredit Mr. Kincaid\u2019s testimony.\u201d For example, Kincaid achieved nearly all the \u201cexplicit racial directives\u201d that the DOJ laid out with suspicious precision\u2014including the creation of three districts with almost exactly 50 percent minority composition to create the appearance of diversity while still maximizing Republican advantage.<\/p>\n

On top of all this, Kincaid appears to have played a role in the concoction of the DOJ letter itself. He \u201csaw a preliminary draft of it in the West Wing of the White House,\u201d Brown writes, \u201cand discussed it with key White House and DOJ officials\u2014and Governor Abbott\u2014a week before DOJ released it.\u201d So Kincaid \u201cwould have us believe\u201d that he hit the exact racial targets laid out in a letter he allegedly helped craft and was told to execute, yet somehow never considered race at any point. Does that seem likely? Of course not. But Smith announces that he finds Kincaid \u201ccredible in every respect,\u201d embracing his \u201csolid testimony\u201d as \u201ccredible and irrefutable.\u201d Why? He just seemed trustworthy\u2014\u201ccalm and straightforward\u201d on the stand, and therefore \u201cwholly convincing and unassailable.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n This Content is Available for Slate Plus members only<\/p>\n

This Dissent From a Reagan Judge Is One of the Most Unhinged Judicial Opinions in U.S. History
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Donald Trump May Have Just Made the Worst Statement of His Presidency
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trump Just Issued a Shocking New Pardon. It Won\u2019t Work as Intended.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n This Content is Available for Slate Plus members only<\/p>\n

The Professional Evangelist for the Rich and Powerful Is Done. For Now at Least.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Smith also defends Rep. Todd Hunter, the new map\u2019s sponsor, who gave testimony that conflicted with Kincaid\u2019s. The majority charged Hunter with promoting a racially gerrymandered map that would help Republicans while maintaining the illusion of minority inclusion. This allegation, Smith complains, \u201cunfairly paints Hunter, a former democrat, as an unreformed, unrepentant racist, maintaining a flagging veneer of partisan nastiness over Strom Thurmond-like segregationism.\u201d (It is grimly amusing that the judge invokes Hunter\u2019s former political affiliation to defend his honor but still cannot bring himself to capitalize democrat.) Smith spends this stretch of the opinion seething that the majority dared to question the credibility of the white men who drew an obviously racist map. By the end, he abandons any pretense of legal reasoning, quoting lines from the majority and waving them away as \u201cmisleading,\u201d without any explanation.<\/p>\n

In fairness, Smith has long been a bit of a drama queen<\/a>. But this dissent is not just a theatrical temper tantrum; it is a cry for help. Those closest to Smith ought to intervene and coax him into retirement before he can embarrass the federal judiciary more. The Supreme Court\u2019s Republican appointees are still going to steer this case wherever they want. But rather than give them an excuse to side with Texas, Smith may have made it harder for the supermajority to reverse, because doing so may make it look as if the justices are endorsing his ultra-partisan fixation on liberal donors who just so happen to be Jewish<\/a>. George and Alex Soros are wealthy men indeed. But the rent-free space they occupy in Smith\u2019s Fox News\u2013addled brain is beyond anything money can buy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sign up for Slate’s evening newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[145,3480,24972,31812,6507,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-59033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-donald-trump","tag-gerrymandering","tag-judiciary","tag-jurisprudence","tag-slate-plus","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}