Justice Department sues Texas over redistricting plans, alleging violation of Voting Rights Act
CBSN
Washington — The Justice Department filed suit against the state of Texas on Monday over the state's redistricting of congressional maps, saying the plans violate the voting rights of minority voters.
The 45-page suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that Texas has "again diluted the voting strength of minority Texans and continued its refusal to comply with the Voting Rights Act, absent intervention by the Attorney General or the federal courts."
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta announced the lawsuit at Justice Department headquarters in Washington. "These redistricting plans will diminish the opportunities for Latino and Black voters in Texas to elect their preferred representatives. And that is prohibited by federal law," Gupta said Monday.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.