Top Stories
- What’s at stake in Texas election cases – Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog
Texas’s lawyers are relying heavily, in their pleas to the Supreme Court, upon Judge Smith’s dissenting arguments. The key claim is that the District Court did not have the authority to cast aside, for purposes of interim action, all of the state legislature’s maps. And the key authority they cite for that proposition is the Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Upham v. Seamon. The state’s lawyers, and Judge Smith, interpret that decision to mean that any court undertaking to impose its own redistricting plan as a remedy for violation of federal law is required to defer, as much as it can, to the choices made by the state legislature. That precedent, the argument goes, makes it clear that the San Antonio court should have deferred to the state legislature’s plans, for use in the 2012 elections, unless it first found specific violations for specific districts within that plan. Having not yet ruled any specific district to be illegal, the argument continues, the District Court should have embraced as much of the state legislature’s maps as it could unless it could first establish an actual violation.
- Under the U.S. Supreme Court: Redistricting … a fight as big as Texas – Michael Kirkland, UPI.com
Texas Republicans, locked in a struggle with massive national implications, are fighting hard to preserve a redistricting map that favors the party and are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court for help.
That’s the lede, and a fine example of how journos frame stories all the time (one might just as easily have said Republicans are trying to preserve self-government and the Texas Constitution from being overriden by unelected federal judges, who should not be taking over the duties of the legislature — but that’s perhaps too complicated for some journos).
- Justice Dept. details how it got Fast and Furious statements wrong – Pete Yost, AP
- Investigation finds sexual misconduct in 3 state hospital doctors' pasts – Andrea Ball and Eric Dexheimer, Austin American-Statesman
Recommended
- In wake of cronyism and contract steering scandals, HISD looks to pass new ethics policy — but it's toothless – Mike Cronin, Texas Watchdog
Of course it’s toothless. That’s how we do government ethics in Texas. - Squatters claim more than $8 million worth of Tarrant County properties – Yamil Berard, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Where does Occupy Austin go from here? – Patrick George, Austin American-Statesman
Home? To work? Either would be good starts. - In Another Blow to Public Schools, Hochberg Leaving Legislature – Abby Rapoport, The Texas Observer
He had little say on the Appropriations Committee, where lawmakers ultimately decided to cut $5.4 billion from public schools.
The lie grows all the time! See Michael Quinn Sullivan for elaboration.
- I <3 Hochberg – Paul Burka, BurkaBlog
- David Dewhurst: creating opportunity for everyone – David Jennings, Big Jolly Politics
The Dewhurst campaign has to love that. Give David Jennings credit for talking to various candidates and letting them sell themselves (although the cheerleading dicta can be a bit much). - Perry, trying for a comeback, still has himself to contend with – Peggy Fikac, San Antonio Express-News
- Perry campaign hopes organizational strength will help close the gap – Jason Embry, Austin American-Statesman