"Ignoring pleas from Democrats and minorities, a three-judge federal panel declined to block a congressional redistricting map passed by the Republican-dominated legislature and began a trial to determine the legality of the new districts," the Houston Chronicle reports.
The Washington Post notes the trial "is the latest twist in a bitter partisan contest that began last spring when the Republicans, urged on by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) and White House political adviser, Karl Rove, launched an extraordinary effort to redraw the state's congressional districts just two years after they had been set by a federal court."