University of Texas Press Releases Lines in the Sand, Chronicling Recent Redistricting Case in Texas and Downfall of Tom DeLay

A new book by University of Texas law professor Steve Bickerstaff, released by UT Press, offers comprehensive look at one of the most pivotal episodes to date in 21st Century American politics -- the 2003 Congressional redistricting battle in Texas.

Austin (PRWEB) February 14, 2007 -- University of Texas Press has released Steve Bickerstaff's Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay. The book details and provides provocative insights into one of the most pivotal episodes in 21st Century American politics to date - the efforts by Republican lawmakers in 2003 (led by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay) to gerrymander Texas's 32 Congressional districts.

The nation watched the redistricting battle closely - a landmark battle in American election law annals, which included Democratic state legislators twice fleeing the state in an ultimately futile effort to prevent a Republic triumph.

Columnist Molly Ivins noted, "The Texas redistricting was a corruption of our democratic processes. Lines in the Sand explains what happened in an accurate and therefore damning fashion."

The book - offering the first truly comprehensive look at the Texas redistricting case and its implications for the United States - provides a front-line account of what happened in 2003, often through the personal stories of members of both parties and of the minority activist groups caught in the redistricting battle.

It also probes the aftermath of the 2003 events, including the criminal prosecutions of DeLay and his associates and the events that led to DeLay's eventual resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives - and, in some observers' views, led directly to significant Democratic gains in the 2006 Congressional elections. In addition, it explains how a handful of Texas public interest advocates brought down DeLay's plan for increasing personal and national party control over state elected officials nationwide.

Bickerstaff, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Law School and election law specialist, also examines legal implications of the 2003 redistricting battle in the book, which includes analysis of cases involving gerrymandering, mid-decade redistricting, the effect redistricting has on minorities, and effects on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He specifically criticizes the June 2006 Supreme Court ruling for opening the door for states and local governments to engage in mid-decade redistricting.

The book and the issues it raises will be featured in an upcoming symposium, hosted by the University of Texas Law School on March 2, 2007. The symposium will bring Bickerstaff together with key players and observers in the Texas redistricting case, as well as a number of election law experts from across the nation.

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