Federal court rejects GOP-drawn Texas voting maps
Politics
Stadiums and hospitals removed from the districts of black congressional members and country clubs newly drawn into those of white incumbents. A lawyer emailing "No bueno" to a Republican staffer about plans that risked leaving a paper trail and jeopardizing the legality of a voting map.
Those were among the evidence a Washington federal court used to determine that Texas Republican lawmakers discriminated against minorities while drawing new political boundaries, throwing out the maps as violations of the Voting Rights Act but likely not in time to affect the November elections.
The decision Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is instead likely to reverberate in 2014, when some Texans could find their congressional and statehouse districts changed for the third time in five years.
The long-awaited ruling was hailed as a sweeping victory by minority rights groups that sued the state after the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through new redistricting maps last year. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called the decision "flawed" and vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Related listings
-
Court upholds summary for St. Louis police measure
Politics 08/22/2012A Missouri appellate court has upheld the proposed ballot summary for an initiative that would end state control of the St. Louis Police Department.The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District ruled Tuesday that the summary is fair and sufficient....
-
Judge won't halt Pa. voter identification law
Politics 08/15/2012A Pennsylvania judge isn't stopping a tough new voter identification law from going into effect.Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on Wednesday refused to grant an injunction that would have halted the law requiring each voter to show a valid ph...
-
Fed. appeals court denies ex-Ill. governor appeal
Politics 08/08/2012A federal appellate court in Chicago has denied an appeal filed by imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a 16-page ruling on Monday denying the 78-year-old Republican's appeal.A ruling in his favor...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.