Vox Sentences - The battle over gerrymandering in Texas

The DOJ sues Texas over new maps it says will harm minority voting rights; Joe Biden has a tense chat with Vladimir Putin.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

DOJ sues over Texas's new political maps

Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

• The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas over redistricting maps it claims will diminish the voting power of Latino and Black residents. [Texas Tribune / Alexa Ura]
• The DOJ alleges that Texas’s new maps violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act ”by creating redistricting plans that deny or bridge the rights of Latino and Black voters to vote on account of their race, color or membership in a language-minority group,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference. [CNN / Tierney Sneed and Christina Carrega]
• Texas lawmakers began redrawing the maps this year after the state gained two congressional seats following the 2020 census; 95 percent of growth was attributed to Latino, Black, and Asian communities, but the maps were drawn such that white voters would comprise majorities in both new districts. [NYT / Katie Benner, Nick Corasaniti, and Reid J. Epstein]
• The lawsuit also alleges several cases in which a district’s minority population was purposefully cut, including a district in West Texas that saw its Latino population fall almost 10 percent under the new maps. [AP / Acacia Coronado and Nicholas Riccardi]
• The Justice Department's claim likely faces an uphill battle; the Supreme Court has spent the past decade hollowing out protections from the Voting Rights Act that would have previously made Texas’s changes far more difficult to defend. [MSNBC / Steve Vladeck]

Biden warns Putin not to invade Ukraine

• President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that there would be serious economic repercussions if Russia invades Ukraine, during a virtual meeting between the two leaders. [NYT / Michael Crowley, Anton Troianovski, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs]
• Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the US and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation,” according to a White House statement describing the conversation. [CNN / Maegan Vazquez]
• US intelligence reports revealed that 175,000 Russian troops are stationed at four locations along its border with Ukraine; the question for the US is whether Putin might actually go through with an invasion and what could be done to deter him. [Washington Post / Adam Taylor]
• The Biden administration said it was working with European countries to prepare sanctions. But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ruled out the possibility of issuing a red line for US military intervention. “In situations like this, I think conveying red lines only exacerbates the problem,” Austin said. [Defense One / Tara Copp]

Support our journalism

The US surgeon general warned Tuesday of a mental health crisis among youth fueled by complex issues, including unhealthy interactions on social media and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. [NYT / Matt Richtel]

• In recent decades, thousands of Black people have ditched Chicago and some other major cities in favor of smaller cities, suburbs, and the South. [Politico / Shia Kapos, Juan Perez Jr., Renuka Rayasam, and Ming Li]
• Billionaire Michael Steinhardt has handed over $70 million in stolen art; Manhattan’s district attorney said Steinhardt worked with criminal networks to acquire some of the collection’s 180 pieces, but Steinhardt denies any criminal wrongdoing. [Guardian / Dalya Alberge]
• 200 Capitol Hill police officers have left the department since the January 6 insurrection. [USA Today / Bart Jansen]

“Texas leaders would rather gerrymander election maps and hand pick their own voters than earn their place in power by listening and responding to the needs of Texans”

[Beto O’Rourke, who plans to challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott next year for the governorship]

How thousands of stranded migrants became a political weapon between Belarus's authoritarian president and the European Union. [YouTube]

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