Category Archives: Legal matters

Lawsuit filed over Muslim ban documents

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit [Wednesday] demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim ban. Today’s action is part of a total of 13 … Continue reading →

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Voter ID law declared discriminatory

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Again. A federal judge has ruled — for the second time — that Texas lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and black voters in passing a strict voter identification law in 2011. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled Monday that … Continue reading →

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Some Texas voting rights lawsuit updates

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a busy week for litigation related to voting rights issues in Texas. Here are updates to some cases, all of which happened this past week. From Texas Redistricting: The three-judge panel in the Texas redistricting case has … Continue reading →

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Pasadena Council not happy with redistricting appeal

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Or maybe they’re just not happy with soon-to-be-former Mayor Isbell. Either way, they showed it. In a sign of waning confidence in its legal position, the Pasadena City Council voted Tuesday to withhold payment from the law firm that’s trying … Continue reading →

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MALDEF files suit over change to recapture

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is a twist. Texas education officials illegally changed how property taxes are calculated in wealthy school districts, with the effect of substantially reducing the funds available for schools in poorer districts, a lawsuit filed Thursday charged. The change would … Continue reading →

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State files opposition to motion for new Congressional maps

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: The State of Texas has filed its opposition to redistricting plaintiffs’ request for an order that would permanently block the current Texas congressional map and require a redraw of the map for the 2018 election. The state … Continue reading →

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Paxton stands by that Muslim ban

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Till the bitter end. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday led a coalition of 13 states in filing a brief with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals defending President Donald Trump’s revised immigration order. In the brief, Paxton and … Continue reading →

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An ironic might-have-been on redistricting

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From Rick Casey. The three judges who decided the case include one Democrat and two Republicans. Ironically, the decision may have gone the other way if one of the judges hadn’t been punished for joining in an earlier ruling in … Continue reading →

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Motion filed to block current Congressional map

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the Lone Star Project. Moments ago the Plaintiffs in the ongoing Texas congressional redistricting case filed a joint motion asking the San Antonio Federal District Court for an injunction to block the use of the current congressional map during … Continue reading →

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Back to court for Buc-ee’s

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They seem to do this a lot. Buc-ee’s, the local convenience store chain known for clean restrooms, cheap gasoline and its cartoon beaver mascot, is trying to stop a Nebraska company from muscling in on the Texas market with plans … Continue reading →

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So what does that redistricting ruling really mean?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a good explainer. So will the Legislature redraw the congressional map? And if so, when? Here’s where it gets tricky. Friday’s order made it clear that the 2011 map cannot stand, but it did not order anyone … Continue reading →

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Another voter ID update

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the Lone Star Project: Last week, the Trump Department of Justice brought press attention to the ongoing Texas voter ID lawsuit that remains pending before Federal District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi. The Trump DOJ withdrew long-standing federal … Continue reading →

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Court rules several Congressional districts were illegally drawn

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Bam! Some of Texas’ 36 congressional districts violate either the U.S. Constitution or the federal Voting Rights Act, a panel of federal judges ruled Friday. In a long-delayed ruling, the judges ruled 2-1 that the Texas Legislature must redraw the … Continue reading →

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Sheriff Gonzalez testifies in bail practices trial

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

He says on the stand what he has been saying elsewhere. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez took the witness stand for an hour Wednesday afternoon in a closely watched federal civil rights case that is challenging whether it is constitutional … Continue reading →

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Bail practices lawsuit gets going

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The first day in court for this lawsuit was Monday. Neal S. Manne, a managing partner at Susman Godfrey, told Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal in his opening statement Monday that ODonnell and hundreds of other poor people … Continue reading →

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Ogg sides with bail reformers

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

As well she should. District Attorney Kim Ogg on Friday filed a brief supporting bail reform in the lawsuit brought against Harris County’s misdemeanor judges to change the bail system. The civil rights lawsuit, filed in federal court, is expected … Continue reading →

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Once more with feeling on voter ID

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern says that Tuesday’s arguments about whether Texas’ voter ID law was enacted with discriminatory intent or not went well for the plaintiffs, and not for the state or its new buddies in the Justice Department. Tuesday’s … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court hears ridiculous same-sex marriage appeal

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Was this trip really necessary? Same-sex couples are entitled to the same treatment as opposite-sex couples, a lawyer for the city of Houston argued before the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case challenging the city’s benefits policy for … Continue reading →

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State Supreme Court hears same sex marriage appeal today

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Gird your loins. Almost two years after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, Texas Republicans are still fighting the ruling — and they’re getting another day in court. The Texas Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Wednesday in … Continue reading →

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Justice Department wants out of voter ID case

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Monday it plans to ditch its longstanding position that Texas lawmakers purposefully discriminated against minority voters by passing the nation’s strictest voter identification law in 2011. The move comes one day before … Continue reading →

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Texas cannot bar Planned Parenthood from Medicaid

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled Tuesday afternoon that Texas clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood can continue to care for patients under the state’s Medicaid program, a phew-worthy victory for reproductive rights advocates and a loss for the state’s … Continue reading →

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Uptown lawsuit filed

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose we should have expected something like this. The city’s Uptown Development Authority and the economic development zone that feeds it were created in violation of the Texas Constitution, two critics allege in a lawsuit that seeks to void … Continue reading →

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The legal case against the “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ken Paxton says that the so-called “sanctuary cities” bill meets legal muster, and the state won’t get sued to smithereens if it passes. Not all lawyers agree with that. The office of the Texas Attorney General can no better predict … Continue reading →

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AG’s office sanctioned in voter registration lawsuit

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They were warned. A federal judge has ordered sanctions against the state of Texas for blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court order to hand over thousands of pages of documents in a lawsuit challenging its voter registration practices. Texas … Continue reading →

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Paxton files brief in favor of Muslim ban

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Because of course he does. Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an amicus brief Wednesday expressing his support of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, effectively becoming the first state attorney general to back the controversial executive order. Under the executive order, … Continue reading →

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Pasadena won’t fight election order

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The May election in Pasadena will proceed under the pre-redistricting eight-district Council map. The city of Pasadena will not fight an appellate court ruling over its election system, a decision that will allow the upcoming May council elections to proceed … Continue reading →

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Harris County really needs to settle that bail practices lawsuit

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Enough already. Two Houston-based lawmakers called on Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan Friday to dismiss an attorney hired to represent county judges in a federal civil rights lawsuit, after that attorney claimed in a hearing that many people jailed in … Continue reading →

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Trump Justice Department to drop appeals in transgender bathroom directive case

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From ThinkProgress: The Trump administration has elected not to contest a Texas federal judge’s injunction barring the federal government from implementing Obama administration guidelines that protect transgender kids in schools. Oral arguments for the Obama Justice Department’s appeal of the … Continue reading →

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ReBuild re-vote?

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It could come to that, but it’s not clear to me that it has to. The funding scheme for ReBuild Houston, the city’s street and drainage repair initiative, remains in limbo after a state appeals court agreed Thursday that the … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court hears TDP-KSP appeal

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here‘s a little blast from the past. A meandering legal dispute between Texas Democrats and a Houston tea party group has landed before the Texas Supreme Court in a case that could overturn longtime election laws that require certain political … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Pasadena election order

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Pasadena election system that a judge ruled violated the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against Hispanics cannot be used in the upcoming May council elections, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit hears Pasadena redistricting appeal

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is to decide whether to lift or leave in place Judge Lee Rosenthal’s ruling that the pre-2013 all-single-member-district Council map will be in place for the May elections in Pasadena. The City of Pasadena asked for the expedited hearing … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutor pay suspended

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Whiplash! Collin County must immediately stop paying the three lawyers prosecuting Ken Paxton’s criminal fraud case, a Dallas court has said. The 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas on Monday temporarily halted the payments — the result of a lawsuit … Continue reading →

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Look for the helpers

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They’re at the airports now. Luis Ruiz, an immigration attorney with his own practice, set up shop early Sunday at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He’d seen news of attorneys around the country flocking to airports to help people detained under the … Continue reading →

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