Category Archives: Legal matters

Judge officially approves final Harris County bail settlement

It’s officially finally final and official. A federal judge has signed off on a historic bail reform agreement for Harris County, setting in place new protections for people accused of minor offenses in the country’s third largest criminal justice system. … Continue reading

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HFT may join lawsuit to block TEA takeover

That’s a lot of acronyms, so just read this. Houston ISD’s largest teachers union is considering whether to join a lawsuit filed by the district’s school board that aims to stop the expected ouster of elected trustees by the Texas … Continue reading

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Fifth Circuit overturns “motor voter” lawsuit verdict

Bummer. Totally expected and completely on brand for the Fifth Circuit, but a bummer nonetheless. A federal appeals court has overturned a previous ruling that could have opened the door to online voter registration in Texas. In a Wednesday court … Continue reading

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Lawsuit filed over bill banning temporary voting locations

Of interest. Worried about the suppression of young voters in 2020, national and Texas Democrats are suing the state over a newly implemented election measure that’s triggered the shuttering of early voting places, including on college campuses, in various parts … Continue reading

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City wins final judgment in revenue cap lawsuit

Wow, is this ever a blast from the past. The city of Houston has prevailed in a lawsuit challenging the amount it can collect in property taxes, ending 14 years of litigation over a set of measures approved by voters … Continue reading

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TEA recommends HISD takeover

Not finalized yet, but you can see the way it’s going to go. The Texas Education Agency is recommending that the state take over Houston Independent School District — the state’s largest public school system — due to its elected … Continue reading

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Last bail lawsuit hearing

At least I assume it’s the last one. I’ve been thinking this was all over but for the formality for months now, so what do I know? Dianna Williams has witnessed the “collateral damage” of jailing on the fabric of … Continue reading

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Abbott and Paxton threaten transgender child

I’m utterly speechless. Top Texas Republicans have directed the state’s child welfare agency to investigate whether a mother who supports her 7-year-old child’s gender transition is committing “child abuse” — a move that has alarmed an already fearful community of … Continue reading

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Another ReBuild Houston lawsuit

Gotta say, this puzzles me. A pair of Houston residents filed a lawsuit against Mayor Sylvester Turner and city council Monday, accusing them of failing to follow the will of voters who approved a charter amendment last year for funding … Continue reading

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Ogg continues to have problems with the bail settlement

I don’t like this. District Attorney Kim Ogg is rallying police officers across Harris County to show up in federal court en masse to oppose to a landmark bail reform agreement at a final hearing set for this month. She … Continue reading

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Lawsuit filed against Texas drone law

This ought to be interesting. A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Austin seeks to strike down Texas laws that restrict what can legally be photographed by drones. Filed by two journalism organizations and a reporter, the lawsuit argues that a … Continue reading

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One thing our state loves spending money on

Defending unconstitutional anti-abortion laws in the courts. As Texas defends abortion laws in federal court that mandate fetal burials and seek to outlaw certain medical procedures, the state has been ordered to pay pro-abortion attorneys $2.5 million — fortifying women’s … Continue reading

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Suing ERCOT

Interesting. Panda Power built three power plants earlier in this decade, investing billions of dollars based on projections from the state’s grid manager that Texas desperately needed more generation to meet growing electricity demand. But those projections turned out to … Continue reading

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Galveston ordered to provide counsel at bail hearings

Sure seems like the proper thing to do. Add Galveston to the list of Texas counties that have been court ordered to change their bail practices. A federal district judge on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction in a 2018 lawsuit … Continue reading

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The San Antonio Chick-fil-A lawsuit

Oh, good Lord. In a lawsuit citing a controversial new state law, five area residents are suing the city of San Antonio over its decision to prevent Chick-fil-A — a franchise known for opposing same-sex marriage — from opening a … Continue reading

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One more step towards the bail lawsuit settlement

We’re almost there. I know it feels like we’ve been there for awhile and are just waiting for it all to become official, but there were still a few checkpoints to get through first, and this is one of them. … Continue reading

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Who gets to perform marriages?

In Texas, the answer to that question is quite limited, and a lawsuit to change that just suffered a legal setback. Texas couples who hope to marry — and leave religion completely out of it — suffered a setback last … Continue reading

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Ogg’s objections

This kind of came out of the blue. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg — who has been aligned with bail reformers during an ongoing legal conflict over the disparate treatment of poor defendants — filed a brief Thursday opposing … Continue reading

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HISD has a lawsuit against the TEA over that ethics investigation

I missed the first act of this story, but that’s okay because this is where it gets interesting. Lawyers for Houston ISD’s school board are seeking to stop the Texas Education Agency from replacing the district’s elected trustees following a … Continue reading

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Lawsuit filed over mail ballot practices

We haven’t had a good voting rights lawsuit in a few months. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Antonio, [two] voters — George Richardson of Brazos County and Rosalie Weisfeld of McAllen — alleged that the state law … Continue reading

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TDP sues over Bonnen-MQS secret meeting

Here’s an interesting turn. The Texas Democratic Party is suing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, alleging they created an unregistered political action committee and violated other state election laws. The lawsuit, filed in Travis County … Continue reading

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The Harris County bail lawsuit effect on Dallas County

The Trib looks to see if the recent Harris County bail lawsuit settlement might affect the bail lawsuit in Dallas County. “Anytime one county settles, it could possibly provide a roadmap for another county, but I can’t say that it … Continue reading

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Mediation fails again

Not really a surprise. A third round of mediation between Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston firefighters union concluded in an apparent impasse Thursday afternoon, ending another attempt to resolve the long-running contract dispute and sending a lawsuit over the … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court approves bail lawsuit settlement

Excellent. Harris County Commissioners Court approved a historic settlement Tuesday fixing a bail system a federal judge found unconstitutional and ushering in a new era for criminal justice in one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The deal resulted from … Continue reading

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Final bail settlement reached

We are coming to the end of a very long road. A long-awaited settlement in Harris County’s historic bail lawsuit won tentative approval Friday from all parties, setting up a possible end to a contentious system that kept poor people … Continue reading

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Houston sues over water rights

This could be interesting. The city of Houston sued the state and the Brazos River Authority Monday, seeking to block the implementation of a new law that would force the city to sell its water rights in a proposed reservoir … Continue reading

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Mediation 3.0

Third time’s the charm, right? The Houston firefighters union and Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration will return to mediation Aug. 1 in the hopes of working out a new contract amid a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition B. The ballot … Continue reading

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Libertarians and Greens sue over the petition process for ballot access

We’ll see about this. Ahead of the 2020 election cycle, a group of Texans, along with a number of nonmajor political parties, have sued the secretary of state’s office, alleging that Texas election law discriminates against third-party and independent candidates … Continue reading

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The Fifth Circuit Obamacare hearing

Remember, the Fifth Circuit is where hope goes to die. Adjust your expectations accordingly. On the left was Judge Carolyn Dineen King, an appointee of Jimmy Carter; on the right sat Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a nominee of Donald Trump, and … Continue reading

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Some Census shenanigans short-circuited

The head, it spins. In a scalding order that called the Justice Department’s motion to change lawyers “patently deficient,” a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday blocked the move by the Justice Department to withdraw several of its attorneys from … Continue reading

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The lawsuit to kill Obamacare has its hearing at the Fifth Circuit today

Brace yourselves. Last year, after a federal judge in Texas declared the entirety of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, throwing into question millions of Americans’ health coverage, the state’s Republican leaders promised they would come up with a plan to … Continue reading

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Yeah, we spoke too soon about the Census citizenship question

It’s maximum chaos time. The Justice Department affirmed Friday that it still is pursuing a path for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, according to a filing in federal court in Maryland. The filing followed statements earlier in … Continue reading

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No Census citizenship question

Hallelujah. The Trump administration is dropping plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the Justice Department confirmed Tuesday just days after the Supreme Court described the rationale for the question as “contrived.” The decision to back away … Continue reading

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Next up for the Census lawsuit

Before the Trump administration can take a second shot at SCOTUS with the Census citizenship question, the federal court in Maryland will be revisiting their case with some new data. [The SCOTUS] decision came two days after a federal appeals … Continue reading

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