Court nixes Texas redistricting maps

SAN ANTONIO (AP/KXAN) - A federal court has found evidence of discrimination in Texas voting maps drawn by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature.

The U.S. District Court in Washington ruled in a lengthy opinion Tuesday that state prosecutors failed to show Texas lawmakers did not draw congressional and state Senate district maps "without discriminatory purposes."

Luis Vera, an attorney for the League of United Latin American Citizens, called the ruling "better late than never" and a win for his and other minority rights groups that sued the state over the maps.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott immediately vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Abbott said, "Today's decision extends the Voting Rights Act beyond the limits intended by Congress and beyond the boundaries imposed by the Constitution. The Attorney General's Office will continue defending the maps enacted by the Texas Legislature and will immediately take steps to appeal this flawed decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Washington DC court's decision applies to the maps originally enacted by the Texas Legislature--so the November elections will proceed as planned under the interim maps drawn by the federal court in San Antonio."