Texas

U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Republican-drawn Texas electoral district

Published

1 year ago

November 21, 2022

U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Republican-drawn Texas electoral district

Nov 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court docket on Monday turned away an enchantment by Black and Hispanic voters accusing the Republican-led Texas legislature of deliberately redrawing a state Senate district to decrease their political clout, a part of broader problem to congressional and state legislative maps within the state.

The justices declined to evaluate a ruling by a three-judge federal district court docket panel denying an injunction in opposition to the reconfigured state Senate district sought by the challengers. The plaintiffs have argued that the district’s redrawn boundaries resulted from intentional racial discrimination in opposition to them in violation of the U.S. Structure’s 14th Modification assure of equal safety underneath the legislation.

The dispute facilities on a state Senate district that features a part of the town of Fort Price in north-central Texas.

The district is at present held by Democratic state Senator Beverly Powell. However she dropped her re-election bid final April, calling the race “unwinnable” due to the way in which the legislature had redrawn the district’s boundaries. Following the Nov. 8 election, the newly configured district shall be represented by Republican Phil King, who ran unopposed.

Black and Hispanic plaintiffs sued after the Texas legislature authorised new electoral maps in 2021. They argued that they’d been “splintered” into different Senate districts the place they are going to be “overpowered” by white voters.

Whereas Powell’s state Senate district was beforehand confined inside a single county, it’s now unfold throughout seven others that the three-judge panel mentioned are “populated largely by rural Anglos who have a tendency by a big margin to vote Republican.”

Redistricting, carried out every decade after the completion of the U.S. census, is an more and more contentious course of in the USA. It’s usually managed by politicians already in workplace who could draw strains for partisan acquire.

The Supreme Court docket in 2019 blocked federal courts from reviewing claims of so-called partisan gerrymandering, a apply that in line with critics warps democracy by crafting electoral districts in a manner that reduces the voting energy of some voters whereas boosting the clout of others.

The Texas case represents considered one of many authorized challenges to reconfigured electoral maps across the nation.

The Supreme Court docket is about to listen to arguments in a significant case on Dec. 7 that would forestall state courts from second-guessing state legislatures’ guidelines and maps for federal elections.

The Texas lawsuit is considered one of a number of which were consolidated earlier than the three-judge panel. President Joe Biden’s administration sued Texas over the brand new maps final December. The panel denied an injunction that will have blocked the usage of the newly devised district boundaries. In its ruling final Could, the panel agreed that, given racially polarized voting patterns, the brand new map has a disproportionate impression leading to “the lack of a seat by which minorities had been in a position to elect candidates they most well-liked.”

However the court docket mentioned there was no direct proof that the legislature was motivated by an intent to racially discriminate.

Of their enchantment to the Supreme Court docket, the plaintiffs mentioned decision was wanted previous to the 2024 election.

Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Modifying by Will Dunham

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

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Texas

Texas weather: Tips to prep for severe storms

Published

1 hour ago

May 9, 2024

Press Room

Texas weather: Tips to prep for severe storms

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

from THU 5:46 PM CDT until FRI 12:00 AM CDT, Travis County, Williamson County, Lee County, Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Hays County, Blanco County, Gillespie County, Burnet County, Llano County, Bastrop County, Blanco County, Burnet County, Caldwell County, Gillespie County, Hays County, Lee County, Llano County, Travis County, Williamson County

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Texas

Why are skies hazy across Texas? See your city’s AQI this weekend

Published

8 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Press Room

Why are skies hazy across Texas? See your city’s AQI this weekend

Humidity and wildfires in Mexico are bringing hazy skies across the state of Texas.

Texas skies are hazy this week thanks to the tedious combination of humidity and smoke drifting from various fires.

Hazy conditions and poor air quality will remain steady through the weekend, according to data from AirNow.gov, the nation’s official website for air quality monitoring.

Here’s what we know.

Where is smoke coming from in Texas?

This week, active wildfires have been reported in California, New Orleans, Mexico, and Central America. Strong winds are carrying remnants of smoke to various parts of Texas, including Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Waco.

According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, residual smoke from seasonal burnings and industrial activities is the primary contributing factor to the haze in Texas.

“Elsewhere, light to moderate winds combined with very high relative humidity east of the dryline has kept elevated fine particulate matter concentrations widespread and are expected to be sustained,” according to the daily statement on the TCEQ website Wednesday.

Air Quality Index: Map of current conditions across Texas

Much of the eastern portion of the state will experience moderate to unhealthy air quality conditions through Saturday as a cold front continues to bring residual smoke and high relative humidity. According to AirNow, these are the forecasted AQIs through Saturday.

Amarillo: Good through the weekend
Austin: Unhealthy for sensitive groups, moderate beginning Friday
Corpus: Unhealthy for all, moderate beginning Friday
Dallas-Fort Worth: Moderate through the weekend
El Paso: Moderate through the weekend
Houston: Unhealthy for sensitive groups, moderate on Saturday
Lubbock: Good through the weekend
Midland-Odessa: Good through the weekend
San Antonio: Moderate
Waco: Unsafe for sensitive groups, moderate and good on Friday and Saturday

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Texas

Texas Energy Company to Pay $260K to Settle Racial Harassment Lawsuit

Published

15 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Press Room

A Texas energy company will pay a $265,000 fine to settle charges that it subjected Black and Hispanic field mechanics to harassment.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced last week that Liberty Energy, Inc. doing business as Liberty Oilfield Services, LLC, will settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of three mechanics.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, a Black field mechanic and two Hispanic co-workers at Liberty Energy’s Odessa, Texas location were subjected to a hostile environment and referred to in derogatory terms, including use of the N-word and other slurs such as “beaner” and “wetback.”

Liberty Energy is an oilfield service firm offering technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration across North America.

The employees alleged that they made reports to supervisors, management, and human resources about the discriminatory treatment, but no effective corrective or remedial action was taken by the company.

The EEOC’s suit charged that after making his report, the Black mechanic was forced by management to perform undesirable work tasks and was isolated by his peers. With no meaningful action by company management to change the workplace atmosphere and the discriminatory assignments that followed his complaint, he was ultimately left no alternative but to resign.

The alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin. The EEOC filed suit, Civil Action No. 7:23-cv-00100, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland-Odessa Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Under the two-year consent decree resolving the suit, in addition to monetary relief for the employees, Liberty Energy will adopt and distribute a policy for all human resources and management personnel to effectively respond to reports to discrimination; post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement; adopt and develop a 1-800 hotline for reporting acts of discrimination and/or harassment; and provide specialized training to employees on the federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination, including Title VII.

Source: EEOC

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