federal courts

Nacar Devine has been showing up to federal court in El Paso every day since last week, when a panel of three federal judges began hearing arguments around a lawsuit attempting to block the state's controversial new map of congressional districts. Given that no cameras or recording devices are allowed inside, she's one of just a few dozen people bearing witness to the consequential legal battle.

The saga of the Texas mid-decade redistricting of congressional districts is one of the biggest political stories of the year. Here's a timeline of the major milestones.

Civil rights groups say Texas' new Congressional maps are racially gerrymandered. But Texas Republicans say the maps are partisan — which the Supreme Court said is legal.

A federal judge quickly and quietly cut off in-state college tuition for Oklahoma students without legal immigration status on Aug. 29.

The bird dwells west of Lubbock, and in the tip of the Panhandle, north of Amarillo.

United Nation of Islam, a quasi-religious group based in Kansas City, Kansas, was accused of forcing children to endure long, unpaid work days while living in crowded conditions with strict diets. Sentences for the six leaders range from five years of probation to 10 years in prison.

A federal judge ruled that Kansas lawmakers were suppressing free speech when they passed a law targeting mail-in ballots. The law was passed one month after the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

The ruling will prevent Army Lt. Col. Shane Vinales and his wife and family from receiving further damages they claim they suffered from living in privatized base housing.

A federal judge in San Antonio has ruled that the state of Texas for decades unnecessarily institutionalized 4,500 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing home facilities, denying them appropriate services that are required under federal law.

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he wants to prevent the company from selling its customers' private DNA information.