The Supreme Court weakened Section 2, the linchpin of the 1965 civil rights legislation that prohibits diluting the electoral power of voters of color. But the statute’s fingerprints can be seen all over Texas’ maps.
Courts
Stay up to date on Texas courts with in-depth coverage of major rulings, judicial elections, criminal justice, and the judges shaping state law from The Texas Tribune.
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2026 Texas Elections
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Republican runoff: Who is running for Place 3 and what to know
The criminal court decides death penalty case appeals and rules on petitions for those who believe they’ve been wrongfully detained. Alison Fox and Thomas Smith are in the runoff for Place 3’s Republican nominee.
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Redistricting Texas 2025
Supreme Court voting rights ruling empowers Texas Republicans to redraw more partisan maps
Texas lawmakers will be able to draw more aggressively partisan maps for the state House, Senate and education board when they return in 2027.
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Courts
U.S. Supreme Court weakens key pillar of Voting Rights Act, opening the door for Texas to redraw political maps
While the court did not strike down the provision entirely, Justice Elena Kagan said Wednesday’s ruling made Section 2 of the VRA “all but a dead letter.”
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2026 Texas Elections
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map
The high court had previously allowed the map to be used temporarily, but Monday’s ruling makes that permanent.
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2026 Texas Elections
Some Dallas County Republicans trying to revive precinct voting that created chaos in primary
A new lawsuit wants a court to set aside an agreement to let voters use any countywide voting location for next month’s runoff.
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Immigration
Texas police can arrest people suspected of entering country illegally, federal court rules
The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge Senate Bill 4, the 2023 law that lets state police arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally.
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State Government
Texas child abuse investigations over gender-affirming care no longer blocked
The Texas Supreme Court lifted temporary injunctions protecting three families and members of PFLAG, Inc., after CPS cases were dropped.
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Criminal Justice
Two years after a judge recommended her murder conviction be tossed, Melissa Lucio still waits for freedom
A district judge provided two recommendations to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 2024, but the court’s process provides no details on when it will rule on the death row inmate’s innocence.
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Immigration
West Texas residents sue Trump administration over Big Bend border wall plans
The lawsuit says the Trump administration illegally waived environmental laws to speed up the process to build border barriers in the Big Bend area.