Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asks judge to block lawsuit over redistricting
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Democratic state senators against Gov. Greg Abbott over his plan to redraw political districts during an upcoming special session of the Legislature.
In a Wednesday motion, the attorney general's office argued that the lawsuit is "wrong about Texas law" and is "inconsistent with past practice and judicial precedent." It asks that the lawsuit be dismissed or suspended until after the redistricting process is concluded.
The lawsuit — filed Sept. 1 by Democratic state Sens. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin and Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio — argues that the state constitution explicitly requires political districts in the state to be redrawn during the first regular session after the publication of the U.S. census.
Due to the delayed release of 2020 census data, lawmakers were unable to draw districts during the biennial regular session that ended in May. Instead, Abbott has asked lawmakers to complete the redistricting process during the special session scheduled to start Monday.
The lawsuit argues that a federal judge has the "exclusive obligation" to draw temporary maps to be used in the 2022 elections and that the legislative redistricting process should wait until 2023, when the next regular session is scheduled to occur.
—Austin American-Statesman
Ex-cop Derek Chauvin enters not guilty plea to federal civil rights charge involving a 14-year-old
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin entered a not guilty plea Thursday in a brief hearing in U.S.District Court on a charge involving a confrontation with a 14-year-old in 2017.
Chauvin is alleged to have pinned down the teenager, struck him with a flashlight and grabbed him by the throat, according to the two-count indictment. Chauvin was in federal court earlier this week with three other former officers and entered a not guilty plea to that separate federal indictment alleging he abused his position of authority when he knelt on George Floyd in May 2020.
The former Minneapolis officer appeared remotely from prison, responding to U.S. Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer with "good morning" when she greeted him and asked if he could see and hear her and the lawyers.
The 45-year-old, who was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges in Floyd's death earlier this year by a Hennepin County District Court jury, entered his plea and then listened as Bowbeer and the lawyers discussed a list of numerous pending pretrial motions. The motions were mainly housekeeping matters and didn't involve substantive discussions at the 20-minute hearing. Bowbeer said she'd issue written rulings.
This separate indictment of Chauvin involves a violent arrest from Sept. 4, 2017, captured on police body-worn camera when he and another officer responded to a complaint from a mother who said her juvenile son and daughter assaulted her.
When the officers arrived, they found the 14-year-old son lying on the floor and ordered him to get off his phone and stand up because he was under arrest, according to the indictment. When the boy refused, Chauvin grabbed him and struck him in the head with a flashlight multiple times.
The video shows Chauvin using a neck restraint, choking the boy unconscious, then placing him in a prone position with a knee in his back for about 17 minutes until paramedics arrived, according to court documents.
Chauvin appeared from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights where is serving a 22 1/2-year sentence for Floyd's murder.
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
Duke of Edinburgh's will to remain secret
LONDON — Philip, the duke of Edinburgh's will is to remain secret to protect the "dignity" of his widow Queen Elizabeth II because of her constitutional role, the British High Court has ruled.
After the death of a senior member of the royal family, it has been convention for over a century that an application to seal their will is made to the president of the family division of the High Court.
This means the wills of senior members of the royal family are not open to public inspection in the way a will would ordinarily be.
The current president, Sir Andrew McFarlane, heard legal argument from lawyers representing Philip's estate and the attorney general — who represents the public interest in such matters — at a private hearing in July.
In a ruling published on Thursday, Sir Andrew ordered that Philip's will is to remain sealed for 90 years from the grant of probate — the formal process which confirms the authority of an executor to administer a deceased person's estate — and may only be opened in private even after that date.
—PA Media/dpa
