Republicans Impose Controversial Supreme Court Nominee – Senate Republicans deployed the “nuclear option” after Democrats blocked the controversial confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, deepening divisions between the two parties in Congress. Now, any Supreme Court nominee could be approved with a simple majority, establishing a legislative precedent that could facilitate the arrival of more conservative judges during the Trump era and shift the judicial system rightward in the coming decades. José López Zamorano has the details from Washington.
Gorsuch and an Increasingly Polarized Court – A drastic change in the rules governing the approval of Supreme Court judges abolishing the requirement for a super-majority in the Senate means deeper party lines in the high court and more political polarization for the country, according to jurist Cruz Reynoso. Reynoso, a former justice of the California Supreme Court, spoke on the program Línea Abierta.
Authorities to Close Sherriff Arapio’s Tent City Jail– “Tent City Jail,” a controversial open-air prison in the Arizona desert, will come to an end. The prison functioned for more than two decades and brought international attention to former Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arapio, who justified his “tough on crime” facility as a way of saving money and truly punishing criminals. With a new sheriff in charge, the jail will now close its doors. Valeria Fernández reports from Phoenix.
Texas Redistricting Deprives Latinos of Fair Representation – Federal judges have ruled that Texas committed serious electoral crimes by redrawing the political map in a way that intentionally disenfranchises Latinos and African Americans. Although the Latino population grew dramatically, Republican gerrymandering took congressional districts away from Latinos. Now, the state government must remedy that discrimination with a new map that includes more majority Latino districts. Voting expert Lydia Camarillo discusses the ruling with News Director Samuel Orozco.
