Latest news with #PublicInterestLegalFoundation
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Simmons' Middle Finger Filibuster: Tarrant County Meeting Turns Juvenile
Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons gave County Judge Tim O'Hare the middle finger when he cut off her filibuster in a meeting that ultimately resulted in redistricting. 'Sadly, not the least bit surprising,' O'Hare told The Dallas Express. The county commissioners met June 3 to deliberate a redistricting proposal, which ultimately passed, and which, as The Dallas Express reported at the time, gave Republicans an advantage in future elections. Simmons and Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. voted against the effort, while O'Hare and County Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez voted in favor. Ahead of the vote, Simmons demanded lawyers with the conservative law firm Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) – which helped draw the new map – come out from a back room to face public questioning. O'Hare informed her the lawyers planned to consult with commissioners, but officials did not have subpoena power. Then, Simmons launched a filibuster. 'They're going to bring their butts out here, and stand at that podium, and answer my questions,' she said, as The Dallas Express reported. 'I'm going to continue speaking until they make their way out here.' After Simmons spoke for several minutes – calling the proposed redistricting 'racial gerrymandering' and 'intentional discrimination' and criticizing PILF – O'Hare questioned whether her comments were on topic. He called for a closed session to discuss parliamentary procedure. Then, she flipped him the bird. Keller Mayor Armin Mizani – who supported redistricting – called Simmons '[u]nfit to serve.' 'If you can't have a policy discussion and debate without acting like an entitled 13 year old, then you are unfit to serve in any elected office,' he posted to X. Simmons has a history of obscenity in public forums. Earlier this year, when a speaker used obscenities during a meeting, she defended the actions – using an 'expletive' in an interchange with O'Hare, according to KERA. As The Dallas Express previously reported, Simmons also ran for Texas House District 94 in 2020, when she was caught on tape using vulgar profanities with a voter. The Dallas Express reached out to Simmons' office but did not hear back in time for publication. Simmons said in the meeting she was concerned redistricting would 'put the majority of the communities of color in one precinct' and remove the 'key economic engines,' as The Dallas Express reported at the time. The same day, O'Hare posted on X that redistricting is about taking political ground – citing similar Democrat efforts in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Travis counties. 'Far too often Democrats take ground while Republicans cede it,' he posted. 'That is no longer the case in Tarrant County.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tarrant County leaders urge public turnout ahead of redistricting vote
Tarrant County political organizations have been rallying residents for weeks leading up to Tuesday's Commissioners Court redistricting vote. In the last 24 hours before the vote, leaders are preparing signs and encouraging people to sign up to speak at the 10 a.m. meeting. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will vote whether to establish new precinct boundaries for the four commissioners seats. The fast-paced, two-month-long process began when the county selected Public Interest Legal Foundation to advise in redrawing the maps ahead of the 2026 primary and general elections. The law firm, based in Alexandria, Virginia, have presented the court with seven maps drawn by National Republican Redistricting Trust's president, Adam Kincaid. All of them would likely lead to an additional Republican-held seat on the court. A Harvard law professor told the Star-Telegram the maps show 'telltale signs of racial gerrymandering.' After four county-hosted public meetings, Public Interest Legal Foundation added two more maps to the original five for the court's consideration. Now with the deciding vote around the corner, leaders are making a final push for their supporters to speak out. Julie McCarty, CEO of True Texas Project, said in an emailed newsletter that the Democrats are turning out 'in droves' to speak against redistricting. She wants redistricting supporters to do the same. 'The Left is freaking out,' the newsletter said. 'They've not only called on all the questionable organizations they control, like Act Blue, to register their choice for a new map, but they have gone so far as to offer babysitting and rides to show up at district meetings and at the court for the final vote! Hey, ya gotta admire their passion. Can our passion match that?' In recent meetings, most of the people speaking have opposed redistricting, so the email gives guidance on how to support the redrawing. 'Just like at the district meetings, all you have to do is stand up and say, 'I am John Doe, and I support redistricting with the most conservative map that gives us 3 Republican county commissioners. Thank you,'' the newsletter said. Allison Campolo, former county chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said she is rallying her troops to sign up for public comment and to stay through the long day until their voice is heard. 'We are reminding people that the real crux of the issue here is that these maps are illegally cracked and packed irreconcilable with the Voting Rights Act,' Campolo said. 'This will cost Tarrant taxpayers hundreds of thousands or millions in court costs to defend these illegal maps.' In a letter of opposition to the Commissioners Court, the Texas ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project and Southern Coalition for Social Justice pointed to the $4 million cost of Galveston County's redistricting litigation the Public Interest Legal Foundation was involved in. Attorneys from Texas ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project said success on June 3 would look like the Commissioners Court listening to the 'robust public opposition' and voting accordingly. If that doesn't happen, the organizations will consider their legal options. Katherine Godby, chair of the Justice Network of Tarrant County, said the organization is working with other groups to host an 8 a.m. rally against redistricting in front of the county administration building, where the vote will take place. She said the energy surrounding the redistricting opposition has continued to grow and that people are angry over the effort. Godby said she wants to see one of the Republicans on the court join Democrats Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles in opposition so that the maps stay the same. If it doesn't go that way, Godby said the Justice Network will continue speaking out at commissioners court meetings as they have done for years.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arlington opposes redistricting, wants Tarrant County to wait until 2030 census
Arlington City Council passed a resolution, 8-1, Tuesday to oppose the Tarrant County redistricting efforts, urging the county to delay any decision to adopt a new map. In April, Tarrant County Commissioners began an uncommon mid-decade redistricting process, hiring the Public Interest Legal Foundation to assist. The legal firm then subcontracted map drawer Adam Kincaid from the National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates 'the GOP's 50-state redistricting effort.' Five weeks later, the commissioners court was presented with five maps that favor Republicans, according to voter trend data. The commissioners plan to vote on implementing a new map at their June 3 meeting. The resolution urges the county to wait until there is up-to-date census data to use in redrawing the maps, or to at least elongate the redistricting process to hear the public's feedback and conduct further analysis. It also asks the commissioners court to ensure the process abides by all the federal guidelines for redistricting. Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the Star-Telegram that the resolution may not have any impact but hopes the commissioners court sees the number of cities and mayors speaking out. 'I hope they listen to it and they heed the advice,' Ross said, 'because I'm afraid what will end up happening is it's going to cost taxpayers a great deal of money in litigation trying to defend an illegal process.' Ross led a group of 10 mayors in filing a letter of opposition to the redistricting after Arlington's legal counsel found 'a whole gamut' of legal issues with the county's process. The letter outlined the issues and requested the vote be pulled from the June 3 agenda. If the court did not, the 10 mayors promised to speak out at the meeting. In a call with Ross, County Judge Tim O'Hare said, 'We're not pulling anything. I guess I'll see you on June 3.' The only vote against the resolution came from councilmember Bowie Hogg, who said as elected officials in non-partisan seats, the city council needs to stay out of the partisan fight over redistricting. 'The city's done a really good job, led by our mayor many times, of staying out of this partisan chaos,' Hogg said. 'And when we get into redistricting, it is partisan chaos, and I don't think there's any other way to describe it than that. We also know no matter who's elected to any of these county commissioner seats, we have to work with them, whether they're red, blue, independent, whatever they are.' Three members of the public spoke at the meeting, all in favor of the resolution. 'We live in a place where we respect the rules, where we respect each other and we respect each other's right to exist and respect each other's right to have a voice,' Paul Hissin said. 'I would love to go home and tell (my) daughter that her elected officials here stood up in one loud voice and said, 'We are going to respect the laws. We're not going to bow down to cronyism.''
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Congressman Marc Veasey calls Tarrant redistricting proposal ‘Jim Crow politics'
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey on Tuesday compared Tarrant County's proposed redrawing of voting precincts to 'Jim Crow politics' and called on the public to oppose the plan. 'I want to be absolutely clear: it's racial gerrymandering, plain and simple,' the Democratic congressman said during a news conference outside the county courthouse. Tarrant County commissioners are expected to vote on one of five proposed redistricting maps on June 3. The two Democrats on the five-member commissioners court are against it, and both stood with Veasey on Tuesday. Veasey warned that 'gerrymandering by the GOP' is an effort to undo work for racial equality. He said he is concerned for the voting rights of minorities nationally, but especially in Tarrant County. 'Because that's where we've seen so much of the egregious racially discriminatory tactics that have taken place the last couple of decades,' Veasey said. 'And so we are determined to make sure that we do not allow the clock to be turned back when it comes to the rights of black and brown communities.' On Friday, mayors of 10 cities in Tarrant County including Fort Worth and Arlington signed a letter urging County Judge Tim O'Hare to 'strongly consider' delaying the June 3 vote. The letter calls the maps flawed and in violation of state and federal law. The Arlington City Council on Tuesday night was expected to consider a resolution opposing the plan, following a similar proclamation by Fort Worth's council last week. Republican members of the commissioners court have said that redistricting is needed because of Tarrant County's growth in recent years. One of them, Commissioner Manny Ramirez, has strongly denied that race played a role in drawing the maps. In April, the Tarrant County commissioners began an unusual mid-decade redistricting process, hiring Public Interest Legal Foundation to assist. The legal firm then subcontracted map drawer Adam Kincaid from the National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates 'the GOP's 50-state redistricting effort.' Five weeks later, the commissioners court was presented with five maps that favor Republicans according to voter trend data. Veasey said the redistricting process led by O'Hare is intentionally opaque and rushed so the new map can be in place for the 2026 election, when O'Hare, Ramirez and Democrat Alisa Simmons are up for reelection. 'He's refusing to share racial data. He's ignoring elected commissioners. He's ramming through,' Veasey said. 'He's ramming this through in just six weeks with only four public hearings in a county of over 2 million people, over 2 million people. Think about that. Fort Worth is now the 11th largest city in the country. This isn't democracy. It's a demolition job.' Opponents of redistricting have threatened legal action if the commissioners approve one of the maps. 'We're not going to be silenced,' Veasey said. 'We're not going to be erased, and we're not going to let them drag us back into Jim Crow politics.' Simmons spoke to the redistricting process in 2021, when a Republican-led commissioners court agreed that the 2011 precinct map still held up. She said the only purpose of this redistricting is to crack Precinct 2 and pack Precinct 1. 'Cracking and packing' are two techniques used in gerrymandering. Cracking is when a group with similar interests is divided to weaken their voting power. Packing is when a group with similar interests is drawn into as few precincts as possible, so they can only vote for one or two seats on a ballot. Precinct 1 Commissioner Roderick Miles said approving one of the proposed maps would be the result of the Republican's calculated effort to suppress minority voters. 'We are no longer living in the era of reconstruction of Jim Crow, but let's not kid ourselves,' Miles said. 'The methods may have evolved, but the mission to weaken black and brown political power has not disappeared. It has simply found new disguises.' Fort Worth council members Chris Nettles, Elizabeth Beck, Jared Williams and Jeanette Martinez also spoke during Veasey's event. Some criticized O'Hare and Ramirez for not attending town halls on the issue. O'Hare did not respond to the Star-Telegram's request for comment. Williams implored Tarrant County residents to let the commissioners know that 'this is not okay.' 'We'll read and remember this moment, this moment where we stood in solidarity, we spoke up for what was right, even though it may be uncomfortable,' Williams said, 'because our kids are watching, and so is history.'
The Hill
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump Supporters got death threats, why won't Feds investigate voter intimidation?! Interview
J. Christian Adams, president and general counsel for the Public Interest Legal Foundation, elaborates on the lawsuit his organization filed on behalf of two Pennsylvania-based pro-Trump supporters, who allege they received death threats over it.
