EDITORIAL GERRYMANDER REVIEW TEXAS REDISTRICTING CASE COULD HAVE REPERCUSSIONS IN CALIFORNIA.

CALIFORNIANS of all political persuasions can welcome the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to rule on the legality of the political districts that Rep. Tom DeLay foisted on Texas in 2003. Because the political gerrymandering that's made Austin infamous is also rampant in Sacramento.

Just look at our current system, designed solely to protect parties and incumbents no matter what it costs the public in terms of a government that actually represents the people. If the high court strikes down manipulated districts in Texas, there's hope that California might not be far behind.

California's gerrymandering is much less celebrated and controversial than Texas', but no less offensive, and in some ways, worse. At least in Texas, there was a fight. The state's Democratic lawmakers refused to play along with the Republican redistricting effort, and civil-rights organizations protested districts that would disenfranchise minority groups.

In California, on the other hand, all players got something, so they worked together. Redistricting was a Democratic effort, but Republican lawmakers cooperated in exchange for ``safe'' seats. Key civil-rights groups turned a blind eye to discriminatory districts because the politicians they favored were benefiting.

So while Texas has become a national symbol of dirty redistricting, California's political crime has been largely concealed - so much so that voters, in their special-election ire, turned down a proposition that would have resolved the problem.

But the problems in both states are similar. Opponents of the Texas plan claim that it fails to preserve communities of interest and rigs minority groups out of representation. Sound familiar? The charge calls to mind the horseshoe-shape district of Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, designed to make Latinos a voting minority.

Now it's up to the court to determine whether Texas' plan runs afoul of the constitution or the Voting Rights Act. But if DeLay's machinations in Austin ultimately result in more democratic government in Sacramento, that's something we can all celebrate.