A ‘mean-spirited’ Texas map goes before a conservative appeals court that could make it a new standard

The Galveston Republicans opted to shut the public – and the commissioner representing Precinct 3, the commission’s sole Democrat and, at the time, its only member of color – out of most of the process, the judge found. The commission opted to have only one public meeting about the redistricting plan, compared to the five held after the 2010 Census.