The U.S. Department of Justice said in a court filing Monday that Texas' new voting maps for Congress and for the Texas House do not meet federal anti-discrimination requirements, setting up a legal battle that will decide the landscape of future elections in the state.

The case, which involves the election districts drawn by the Republican-led Texas Legislature, will likely be decided by a federal court in Washington, D.C.

District boundaries are redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in census data. Any changes to Texas' voting practices must be cleared by a federal court or the Justice Department to ensure changes do not discriminate based on race or color.

The Justice Department took issue with the maps for Congress and the Texas House, but it agreed with the state attorney general that maps for the Texas Senate and State Board of Education met requirements under the federal Voting Rights Act. But the Justice Department reiterated that the court would have to make its own determination on the education board and Senate maps.

The agency denied that the congressional and House plans maintain or increase the ability of minority voters to elect their candidate of choice, as required by federal law. The Voting Rights Act requires map drawers to give special protection to districts that contain mostly minorities.

Illinois Supreme Court justices questioned prosecutors Thursday about evidence in the rape conviction of a man who says he was tortured into confessing by Chicago police officers.

In oral arguments in a case with potentially far-reaching impact on how Illinois deals with police torture cases — and one that could lay the groundwork for similar appeals by as many as 20 other inmates — prosecutors argued that the state had enough evidence to convict inmate Stanley Wrice without the confession he claims to have given only after being tortured by officers under the command of notorious Lt. Jon Burge 30 years ago.

But the justices pressed Special Prosecutor Myles O'Rourke about the strength of the state's other evidence, noting that there was no DNA or fingerprints introduced at trial when Wrice was convicted.

Wrice is asking the high court for a new hearing on his long-standing torture claims. The outcome of the case is being closely monitored by about 20 other inmates who say Burge's officers forced them to confess to crimes they didn't commit, and lawyers and experts say the case could lay the groundwork for similar appeals by those inmates.

In her appearance before the court, Wrice attorney Heidi Lambros made an impassioned plea to the justices to take a stand against "the very bad blight from Jon Burge and these torture cases."

"This court should not tolerate the torture of its citizens within its walls," Lambros said.

Burge is serving a 4 ½-year sentence in federal prison following his conviction last year of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a civil suit when he said he'd never witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects.