Monday morning marked another crucial victory for conservatives in the Supreme Court.
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the GOP-led Texas redistricting plan for congressional and state legislative districts dating back to 2010 were not racially motivated, overruling the federal district court’s decision.
The redistricting plan allowed for the GOP to gain four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after Texas’ population grew over 20%.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, stated that the lower court "enacted, with only very small changes, plans that had been developed by the Texas court."
"All these facts gave the Legislature good reason to believe that the court-approved interim plans were legally sound," he continued.
The previous ruling against the GOP stated that the plan was a racially motivated attempt to diminish the voting power of Texas Latinos.
The four liberal judges who opposed the decision, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, were furious, to say the least.
"The Court today goes out of its way to permit the State of Texas to use maps that the three-judge District Court unanimously found were adopted for the purpose of preserving the racial discrimination that tainted its previous maps," wrote Sotomayor.
However, the Supreme Court did agree that out of all the state’s districts, there was one specific one, HD90, which was found to be an "impermissible racial gerrymander."
The narrow decision serves as a reminder for how important the open Supreme Court seat was in the 2016 election, as President Trump's appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, voted for the majority.