Rep. Will Hurd

Liberal comedian Bill Maher is once again facing a barrage of criticism after making a racist joke to Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) about black people and fried chicken. 

The panel of judges presiding over the Texas redistricting case has ordered the Lone Star State to a redistricting trial on July 10. The trial will be over plans passed in June 2013. The trial is being expedited because of the 2018 election deadlines.

Two federal judges have ruled that Texas lawmakers drew congressional maps to discriminate against minority voters, especially Hispanics. The dissenting judge countered that the ruling is “fatally infected, from start to finish, with the misunderstanding that race, rather than partisan advantage,” was the intent behind the 2011 maps.

Two federal judges have released an opinion that accuses Lone Star State legislators of drawing a congressional map in a “rushed and secretive process” that intended to discriminate against Hispanic and Democrat voters. The only problem says the dissenting jurist–the panel could not legally issue the decision because the Fifth Circuit made clear that after Texas repealed the 2011 plan, “the case became moot and eliminated the district’s jurisdiction.”