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WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Boyden Gray PLLC, has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stay and reverse a three-judge panel decision blocking Texas’s 2025 congressional map. AFL’s brief argues that the ruling not only misapplied controlling Supreme Court precedent but also invited federal courts to override state election systems in the eleventh hour — in direct violation of constitutional structure.
AFL’s brief highlights three fundamental errors compelling Supreme Court intervention:
The panel applied the wrong legal standard regarding injunctions. Instead of requiring a clear, substantial likelihood of success — as Supreme Court precedent demands — the lower court required only “some likelihood,” dramatically lowering the bar for democratically-passed legislation. The panel imposed an impossible test for legislative motive. The decision presumed that unless Texas proved its map was drawn solely for partisan reasons, race must have been the driving factor. This false choice directly contradicts established precedent. The ruling destabilized an ongoing election cycle. Issued after candidate filing had already begun, the injunction replaces the state legislature’s enacted map with a repealed one, sowing confusion not only for candidates but also for voters, and violating the Purcell principle’s warning against last-minute judicial intervention.
The brief further emphasizes that the Court is currently considering Louisiana v. Callais, which directly concerns the constitutional boundaries of race-conscious redistricting. Judicial prudence requires stability and caution while this Court resolves the governing framework. Demanding proof of a single, exclusive motive sets an impossible standard that virtually guarantees false findings of racial intent.
“This ruling disregards controlling precedent, intrudes on core constitutional authority reserved for the States, and destabilizes an election already in progress,” said Dan Epstein, Vice President of America First Legal. “The Supreme Court should correct these errors and reaffirm the constitutional limits on federal judicial power.”
AFL urges the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, restore the proper legal standards, and make clear that federal courts cannot override state election systems at the last minute.
Read the full brief here.
Read more of our amicus briefs here.
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