TEXAS REDISTRICTING & ELECTION LAW

The Supreme Court’s Justices will get their first chance to discuss the Texas redistricting case on Friday, when they hold their first screening conference since December 7.

If the Justices decide on Friday to set the case for full briefing and oral argument  - or to summarily affirm the decision of the three-judge panel in favor of the Justice Department and redistricting litigants - an announcement to that effect would be made either Friday afternoon or Monday morning, shortly before the court’s oral arguments that day. 

However, it would not be uncommon for the court to defer a decision (cases are often relisted for serveral conferences and the Justices received briefs in the Texas case only shortly before the holiday). 

After this Friday’s screening conference, the Justices are scheduled to have conferences on January 11 and 18 and then on February 15 and 22. 

More on the Justices’ options here.

And a good backgrounder on the what goes on at a conference here.