hervis rogers lives in harris county. the big diverse county that includes houston that i just told you about. he voted in harris county. but the texas attorney general has chosen to file these charges against him in neighboring montgomery county. we asked the attorney general's office why they filed these charges in that other county. they told us essentially because we can. they said the law allow them to file the charges in any county that abuts harris county if they want to. they wouldn't tell us why they picked montgomery county. i can tell you that according to the most recent u.s. census data, of the eight possible counties that abut harris county, of the eight counties they have legally charged hervis rogers, which they have the option of drawing a jury pool if this case goes to trial, montgomery county is just about the whitest. it has the lowest proportion of african american residents of any of those counties. i can't tell you for certain that is relevant, but it's true. the attorney general's office, we went b

hervis rogers, to me it seems like if he was admittedly and knowingly breaking the law and voting illegally wouldn't have given a tv interview. so your thoughts? >> that's right. he certainly wouldn't have waited over six hours to vote. he was the last one in line. he might have been the last one in the entire state of texas to vote. just studying back, we often talk about suppression of voting rights in hypotheticals, but what's happening to mr. rogers is real and it should cause alarm to all of us. he really thought he was doing the right thing, trying to get out there and fulfill his civic duty, as you saw in that wonderful video of him. and now instead almost a year and a half later, he's arrested by undercover officers outside of his home in houston, taken to a jail an hour north from his house, put a bail amount of $100,000, an amount that most people, certainly mr. rogers, couldn't afford, and was held there for four days, not knowing what was going to happen to him. and for what? at worst, an innocent mistake. and what we know is that he truly believed that he was doing the right th

the fa that hervis rogers was given a voter registration card by the prison system straight out of prison and the fact that he was never told he could not vote but then simplyecause c paxton once to use them as an example to intimidate is what they are doing. he is walking into the middle of the courtyard ensuring everyone, if you do this, this is what will happen. on top of that, going to montgomery county, 100,000 bond on his head when in actuality someone shot a police officer and had a $75,000 bond placed on his head. so you understand what can paxton, why he is under indictment himself, had the audacity to attack people like hervis rogers lucidly trying to exercise their civil right to vote. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us and we will continue to follow the texas delegation was left texas to to stop what they call the suppression session. this is democracy now! when we come back, if roe v. wade doesn't survive, can reproductive rights be preserved without it? we will speak to the authors of the new book called "controlling women." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] am

rogers for casting illegally in 2020 after waiting in line more than seven hours. formerly incarcerated prohibited from voting while still on parole. wasn't scheduled to end until june 2020. not first time a black texan has been charged. convicted of casting illegal provisional ballot in 2016 that was never even counted. president biden is going straight to republican's newest front and continuing to further the disgraced former president's big lie. senator who participated in pro-trump events in d.c. is demanding the ballots be delivered to him personally as he pushes for fraudit in his state as well. wants something like 900,000 -- do audit of 900,000 ballots i'm assuming in places where people of color vote? >> oh, yeah. >> sample the paper and ballots. can it be stopped or are you the next arizona? >> will be stopped. examine my track record of stopping efforts to try and disenfranchise our black and brown communities in pennsylvania. one insurrectionist state senator enabled by modern day republican party beholden to donald trump who is demanding the private v

rogers, last in line at texas southern university on super tuesday to cast his ballot. on last wednesday, the day before the special session began, he was arrested for voter fraud. he was on parole at the time he voted and therefore he was ineligible. he didn't know he was ineligible. he thought it was okay to cast a ballot. why this is important, in another way, bail was set at $100,000. there was a go fund me working to raise that money. so as public hearings were taking place saturday, he was ultimately released on bail, but he knew faces two felony charges for voting illegally, looking at 25 years to life on each of those counts. steph, ultimately that case and that marathon public testimony did not have much impact. both were voted out of committee on party lines, could head to the floor for vote as early as this week. steph? >> 25 years to life for a guy who waited six hours in line just to vote. wendy, when you were in the statehouse, you staged a 13 hour filibuster to block abortion restrictions. here's the thing. in the end, it still passed. we saw democrats ha

rogers, who went viral last year after lining up for six hours on super tuesday to vote, he's accused of illegal voting because his parole was done in june. he's in jail and his bail has been set at $100,000. what is your reaction to that case from your county? he voted in harris county. >> it's clear they're trying to create fear. there is a difference between massive voter fraud which doesn't exist, and innocent mistakes. we're still running down the details of this case. fundamentally what they're doing is tearing down our democracy, strengthening this idea that there is massive fraud, that weakens trust in our democracy. i don't want people to think that the law that is being proposed, the bill that is being proposed during this special session, is any better, that it's a watered down, somehow more palatable version. anything that builds on this lie to pass laws in order to make it harder to vote is threatening to democracy. it obviously makes it harder for certain groups to participate. but it is just a terrible path to go down. i'm so proud of these democrats. the situation is d

the nonprofit, bail project, says it put up the money to have hervis rogers released after bail was set at $100,000. rogers was arrested on wednesday. he spoke to cnn in 2020 about waiting for six hours to vote in the democrat primary. authorities say he also voted in 2018. well, all that would be fine, except texas says rogers was on parole, after burglary charges in the '80s and '90s and that would make his votes illegal, under state law. the american civil liberties union has taken up rogers' case. the aclu says laws shouldn't intimidate people from voting, and it'll push back on efforts to restrict voting rights. >>> soccer passions are at fever pitch ahead of the euro 2020 final. we will look at why england and italy, both, have something to prove in today's clash of the titans at wembley. >>> and later, we will give you an update on how pope francis is doing after his surgery last week. stay with us. ugh, these balls are moist. or is that the damp weight of self-awareness you now hold in your hand? yeah-h-h. (laugh) keep your downstairs dry with gold bond body powder. open talenti

hervis rogers' determination to vote went viral on social media and now prosecutors say he was on parole for a burglary conviction 46 when he cast his vote in the primary election. a conviction could lead to 2 to 20 years in prison. rogers got out on bail tuesday. he is being represented by the aclu of texas. >> for more on this, and there's a lot to talk about here, let's bring in an ace, abc news deputy political director averi harper. good morning. >> good morning. >> this is a big fight in texas over voting rights, and what impact do you think this will have on the national picture because there's a lot of fighting going on in washington, too. >> this is really just the latest state to be in the spotlight over restrictive voting legislation. this is a continuation of the battle that we've seen waged in states across the country. the difference though in texas is that democrats and civil rights leaders are fighting this battle with fewer tools in their arsenal after the supreme court voted to uphold restrictive voting measures in arizona that advocates called discriminatory on the bas

. >> i wanted to bring that video back up because hervis rogers you, you see him there. he was actually arrested this week. the time that he voted, he was on parole. meaning it was illegal for him to vote in texas. but he says he didn't know it was against the law. he was held on 100,000 dollar bail. and actually could now face decades behind bars. what do you make of that case? >> it is all political theater. the truth of the matters is, the first question, why in the world a man who said that he was on his way to work -- which means that he's paying taxes, he's contributing. at the end of the day, what you're going to do is arrest him because he's trying to use his civil rights. secondly, the fact of why we know that making -- a formerly incarcerated folks. that in itself was targeted at black foods. i was targeted to marginalize the voice of voters. i think this should open up even a larger fundamental question around how this is also -- he's a victim of voter suppression himself. what we have to do is literally put pressure. this is what republicans are using in this

earl rogers was arrested on wednesday and charged with violating a texas law barring people with felony convictions from casting ballots. he remained in jail for three days until the non-profit group the bail project paid his $100,000 bail. republican attorney general ken ordered rogers' arrest one day before the start of a special legislative session in texas, in which republicans are pressing new voter suppression laws and trying to make it more difficult for people arrested to post cash bail. on tuesday, president biden is set to deliver a major voting rights speech in philadelphia. the city of charlottesville took down three racist statues over the weekend, including of two confederate generals, robert e. lee and thomas "stonewall" jackson. lee's statue was at the center of the deadly white supremacist "unite the right" rallin 2017. charlottesville mayor nikuyah walker spoke just ahead of its removal. >> taking down the statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping charlottesville, virginia, and america grapple withits sin have been willing to destroy black people for econo