Tag Archives: SBOE

Fifth Circuit upholds injunction in book rating lawsuit

Good news. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday blocked a new Texas law that requires bookstores to rate books for sexual content and prohibits any deemed “sexually explicit” from the state’s public schools. A panel of three judges … Continue reading

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Fifth Circuit has its book rating lawsuit hearing

It looks like it might have…gone well? I am cautiously hopeful. Federal appellate judges Wednesday questioned a new Texas law requiring book sellers to rate the explicitness and relevance of sexual references in materials they sell to schools, though it … Continue reading

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Do unto public schools as you would not do to charter schools

Infuriating, but hardly surprising. In June, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath embarked on the largest school takeover in recent history, firing the governing board and the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District after one of its more than … Continue reading

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Two book ban updates

Bad news. A state law banning “sexually explicit” books from Texas schools will now go into effect, after an appeals court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling. The three-judge panel did not offer any reasoning. Their decision is temporary until … Continue reading

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Book ban lawsuit opinion released

It’s a strong one, not that that will mean anything to the troglodyte nihilists at the Fifth Circuit. In temporarily blocking enforcement of a new Texas law that limits books with sexual content in school libraries, a federal judge called … Continue reading

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Book rating law blocked

Good. A federal judge said Thursday he will stop a new Texas law aimed at keeping sexually explicit materials off of school library shelves on the eve of the law going into effect, according to state attorneys and lawyers for … Continue reading

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The bookstores’ view of the book rating lawsuit

Some useful context from one of the plaintiffs in that lawsuit challenging a new “book rating” law. When Valerie Koehler bought Blue Willow Bookshop, she wanted to offer an expansive selection of children’s books. “We made it our mission to … Continue reading

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Booksellers sue over new book rating law

These lawsuits, they are starting to pile up. A coalition of Texas bookstores and national bookseller associations filed suit on Tuesday over House Bill 900, which aims to ban sexually explicit material from school libraries. HB 900 passed in the … Continue reading

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Another look at Texas redistricting litigation after the Alabama SCOTUS ruling

An explainer from the Trib. The state faces an assortment of legal challenges to its congressional and statehouse maps, including allegations of intentional discrimination, vote dilution and racial gerrymandering. For example: In the Rio Grande Valley, the plaintiffs allege map-drawers … Continue reading

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Will the SCOTUS ruling on Alabama redistricting affect Texas?

Let’s start here. In a surprise win for voting rights activists, the U.S. Supreme Court breathed new life into the Civil Rights Act and may have paved the way to end Texas’s gerrymandered district. The case, Allen v. Milligan, came … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: State Senate and SBOE 2022

PREVIOUSLY: State House 2022 A comparison with 2012 Congress 2022 As with Congress there won’t be much to see here. The fewer the districts, the more precise the redistricting can be. Here’s the State Senate: Dist Abbott Abb% Beto Beto% … Continue reading

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What I want from the next HCDP Chair

As you know, the Harris County Democratic Party will soon have a new Chair. And as you know, I am a Democratic precinct chair, which means I’m one of the several hundred people that will vote on who that is. … Continue reading

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It’s re-redistricting time

More amusing than alarming, with a bit of annoying as well. The Texas Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to again take up the decennial process of redrawing the boundaries of the state’s political districts a year and a half after … Continue reading

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Omnibus 2022 election results post

It’s already midnight as I start writing this. I’m just going to do the highlights with the best information I have at this time. – Nationally, Dems are doing pretty well, all things considered. As of this writing, Dems had … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Yeah, I’m still mad

Here’s that Chuck Crews endorsement I thought we were going to get on Wednesday instead of that giant turd the Chron gifted us with. State Rep. Briscoe Cain’s three terms in the Texas House could charitably be described as harmful … Continue reading

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Interview with Michelle Palmer

Happy Day After Labor Day! It is now officially campaign season, and that means it is also now officially Candidate Interview Season. (It’s also Judicial Candidate Q&A season, which you’ve already seen.) I’ll have a lineup of interviews to bring … Continue reading

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All interviews and judicial Q&As with nominees so far

Back in February, right before the primary, I posted a list of all of the candidate interviews and judicial Q&As I had done. A couple more Q&A responses came in after that, and I did some further interviews for the … Continue reading

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Of course the redistricting lawsuit trial will be delayed

All we ever get is delays. The legal fight over the shape of Texas political representation for the next decade won’t be decided until next year after a federal panel agreed Tuesday to delay a trial over new political maps. … Continue reading

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Redistricting plaintiffs get a win on discovery

Every little bit helps. A federal judge on Monday issued a wide-ranging discovery order requiring Texas state lawmakers to turn over documents related to the state’s congressional redistricting plans. The underlying lawsuit, filed by the League of United Latin American … Continue reading

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Two redistricting lawsuit updates

Legislators involved in the most recent redistricting effort can be made to sit for depositions. The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to block the deposition of Texas lawmakers in redistricting suits. Mum as to whether there were any dissents, the order from the … Continue reading

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Runoff results: Around the state

After the primary, I rounded up the Democratic runoffs we’d have in May. I’m going to use that post to round up the results from last night, as best as I can tell as of when I gave up the … Continue reading

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Runoff results: Harris County

As with the statewide roundup, here are the results from Harris County. As of 10 PM, 99 of 260 voting centers had reported, so while these results aren’t final, it seems likely to me that not much will change. Congressional … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Still in reruns

The Chron re-endorses Duncan Klussman in the CD38 runoff. Last fall, Texas Republicans drew a new congressional district in western Harris County. This red-red-red seat was designed to specifically advantage Wesley Hunt, an Iraq war veteran who came within four … Continue reading

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Interview with Staci Childs

As noted, I have done interviews with the two candidates in the Democratic primary runoff for SBOE4. This is a 72% Biden district that has no Republican candidate for November, so the winner of the runoff will be the next … Continue reading

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Where are the endorsements?

As you know, early voting has begun for the May 7 election, which includes two Constitutional amendments and the special election for HCC District 2. As of last night when I drafted this, I see no endorsements in any of … Continue reading

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Interview with Coretta Mallet-Fontenot

I said during the primary season that I would revisit some races for the primary runoffs, and that time has come. I won’t have a whole lot of these, but one I had my eye on from the beginning was … Continue reading

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Our new school library standards

I am casting a gimlet eye at this, at least for now. The Texas Education Agency released statewide standards Monday for how school districts should remove and prevent “obscene content” from entering Texas public school libraries. In the agency’s model … Continue reading

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Initial post-election wrapup

Just a few updates and observations to add onto what I posted yesterday morning. Any deeper thoughts, if I have them, will come later. – Cheri Thomas and William Demond won their races for the 14th Court of Appeals. I … Continue reading

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A roundup of runoffs

I was going to just do a basic recap of all the primary races that will require runoffs, and then this happened, and I had to do some redesign. U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, has decided to end his reelection … Continue reading

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The only constant is change

This DMN story is about the wave of changes to the various legislative caucuses in North Dallas, but if you pull the lens back just a little, you can see how universal it is. Proponents of term limits complain that … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: Almost all of the big ones

The Sunday Chron was full of endorsements, which given the timing and the edition is what you’d expect. Most of them are not particularly remarkable, and I’m not going to spend any time on their recommendations for Beto and Mike … Continue reading

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Supreme Court rejects mandamus over Commissioners Court redistricting

The primary will proceed as scheduled, but the issue could be revisited sometime after the 2022 election. The Texas Supreme Court rejected an effort by Republican commissioners and voters to block Harris County’s recent redistricting plan on Friday, suggesting another … Continue reading

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The state of the state redistricting lawsuits

A good update, and a reminder that not all of the action is in federal court. In two cases heard [December 14 and 15], a group of mostly Democratic, Hispanic lawmakers from both chambers challenged the legality of when and … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The new SBOE map

Previously: New State House map, New Congressional map I probably care more about the SBOE than most normal people do. It’s not that powerful an entity, there are only 15 seats on it, and their elections go largely under the … Continue reading

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