Federal judge: Pasadena (TX) deliberately worked to reduce voting clout of Latinos

[Gothmog]

5. Texan City Found In Violation Of Voting Rights Act

This is a decent discussion of the court ruling http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pasadena-texas-voting-rights-act_us_58714e44e4b02b5f85891a0d

A Texas city violated the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment by purposefully trying to dilute Latino votes, a U.S. district judge ruled Friday.

Pasadena, Texas, will become the first jurisdiction to have to clear changes to its election laws with the Department of Justice since the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder ruling, according to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which brought the Texas lawsuit....

The closely watched case may have implications for other parts of the country ― especially the South, where jurisdictions have changed electoral systems after the 2013 VRA case.

“The Court’s well-reasoned decision is a clear warning to other jurisdictions that might seek to limit Latino voting power by taking advantage of the Supreme Court’s dismantling of the protections of pre-clearance in the notorious Shelby County case,” Thomas Saenz, the president and general counsel of the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement. “The decision is also a repudiation of those, including congressional leaders, who facilely assert that intentional vote discrimination no longer occurs and that the protections of pre-clearance are no longer needed.”