Category Archives: Legal matters

More on Abbott and his lawsuit settlement

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. When Greg Abbott’s spine was crushed by a falling oak tree in 1984 he had no health insurance, no paycheck and no feeling in his legs. But he had a good lawyer … Continue reading →

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Texas says “No preclearance now, no preclearance forever!”

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the plaintiffs in the redistricting lawsuit against the state of Texas have filed briefs arguing that the state should still be subject to preclearance under Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. They have been joined in … Continue reading →

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County prevails in redistricting lawsuit

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This came out on Friday. Activists failed to prove that a Harris County redistricting plan illegally diluted Latino votes in the only Latino-opportunity commissioner precinct, a federal judge has ruled. In a long-anticipated decision filed late Thursday, U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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From the “She told you so” department

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

No one could have seen this coming. Well, no, pretty much anyone could have. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s not surprised that Southern states have pushed ahead with tough voter identification laws and other measures since the Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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The DOMA ruling and the workplace

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The SCOTUS ruling on DOMA will have an effect in Texas, if not now then eventually, we just don’t know exactly what that effect will be yet. Companies may assume that the recent Supreme Court case rejecting a key part … Continue reading →

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Texas loses another lawsuit against the EPA

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Getting to be a habit. A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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Justice Department to push for Section 3 in Texas

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Thursday that the Justice Department would ask a court to require Texas to get permission from the federal government before making voting changes in that state for the next decade. … Continue reading →

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LIBOR lawsuit

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. The City of Houston filed suit today for financial damages suffered from the manipulation of the interest rates on its investments against the banks that set the benchmark interest rate known as the London Interbank … Continue reading →

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Film incentive lawsuit

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t wait to see what happens with this. A lawsuit filed by Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and the production company behind his film Machete accuses The Texas Film Commission of denying agreed-to financial incentives after the commission decided the … Continue reading →

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To sue or not to sue?

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Now that SB2 has passed, it’s time to consider the next move. As an omnibus bill restricting abortion access in Texas makes its way to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk, opponents of the measure are already weighing the possibility of suing … Continue reading →

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The state of abortion litigation

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Emily Bazelon surveys the landscape. You’ve seen Texas legislator Wendy Davis in her pink sneakers and shuddered over the murder trial of baby killer Kermit Gosnell. Meanwhile, various states are passing increasingly extreme abortion restrictions. But with bill after bill, … Continue reading →

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Redistricting plaintiffs go for Section 3

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a brand new world out there. Minority-rights groups are charting “new territory” in the fight against Texas’ redistricting plan, using a provision of the Voting Rights Act that cites discriminatory intent as part of an effort to maintain federal … Continue reading →

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First lawsuit filed against Texas Double Secret Illegal Anti-Gay Marriage amendment

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Probably not a game-changer, however. A Galveston man filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging a provision of the Texas Constitution defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman. Domenico Nuckols, 60, said he believes he will prevail … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS to hear CSAPR appeal

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not terribly excited about anything the Supreme Court does these days, but we’ll see about this. The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to take a case that has pitted Texas against the Obama administration over a federal rule aimed … Continue reading →

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Redistricting tango continues in San Antonio

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More to the point, the redistricting litigation continues, at least for the time being. A panel of federal judges denied the state’s request to dismiss the case, though they left open the possibility that they could do that later. And … Continue reading →

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What does the DOMA decision mean for Texas?

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, the day after the disappointing SCOTUS ruling on the Voting Rights Act, we got a much more heartening ruling on DOMA, declaring it to be unconstitutional. However, not all of DOMA was struck down. In a landmark Supreme … Continue reading →

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The 2011 maps are officially dead

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry has signed the redistricting bills, thus making the 2012 interim maps the official state-sanctioned maps and thus dropping any further pursuit of the maps drawn by the 2011 Lege. On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry signed all three redistricting … Continue reading →

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Not so fast on voter ID enforcement

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. Top Texas leaders acted without legal authority when they claimed to be moving forward with implementing the state’s controversial voter ID law, a veteran Supreme Court watcher said today. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Secretary of State John … Continue reading →

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RIP, Section 5

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

By now you are well aware that SCOTUS has dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act. They actually left Section 5, which is what requires certain parts of the country (including Texas) to get preclearance on voting-related changes, intact, … Continue reading →

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Back to court for the school finance lawsuit

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Like deja vu all over again. State district court Judge John Dietz likened the state’s school finance case to the soap opera As The World Turns when he opened Wednesday’s hearing on whether to reconsider evidence in the trial that … Continue reading →

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Maybe they shouldn’t have listened to Abbott

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

If you’re a Republican involved in redistricting and you’ve begun to wonder why you ever took AG Greg Abbott’s legal advice on redistricting, I can’t blame you. All spring, Attorney General Greg Abbott had argued to Perry, Lt. Gov. David … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect much from the review of Judge Edith Jones

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

History says that nothing much will happen. Federal judicial disciplinary action is extremely rare in the United States, where district and circuit judges enjoy lifetime appointments and more than 95 percent of complaints are dismissed. However, some jurists have been … Continue reading →

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Review ordered for Jones allegations

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Moving forward. Chief Justice John Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court formally ordered on Wednesday that a rare public judicial misconduct complaint against 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones be reviewed by officials in a different circuit … Continue reading →

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MBIA appeals lawsuit dismissal

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the brief that MBIA has filed with the First District Court of Appeals to overturn the dismissal of their lawsuit against the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation. The issues presented for review … Continue reading →

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So where does the school finance lawsuit stand?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Though Judge John Dietz issued a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the school finance lawsuit back in February, he still hasn’t written his full decision yet. That’s because he wanted to see what the Legislature did this session, … Continue reading →

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Complaints filed against federal judge Edith Jones

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a potential blockbuster. A broad coalition of groups — including an agency funded by the Mexican government (the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program), various civil rights organizations, legal ethics experts, and law professors — filed the complaint against … Continue reading →

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Many questions at the redistricting hearing

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: The Legislature is currently considering whether to ratify maps drawn by the three federal judges and used in the 2012 elections. It became clear during Wednesday’s hearing that the judges and the lawyers in the case agree … Continue reading →

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Why a special session on redistricting won’t resolve anything

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: Intentional Fragmentation  In the other parts of the map, redistricting plaintiffs contend that the Texas Legislature intentionally diluted African-American and Hispanic voting strength by fragmenting cohesive communities. This fragmentation, they argue, is especially pronounced in the DFW … Continue reading →

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Getting all of the courts ready for e-filing

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I confess to being a little confused at first when I read this. A half-dozen Harris County departments will spend the rest of the year scrambling to fulfill a Texas Supreme Court mandate that all civil courts accept only electronic … Continue reading →

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Redistricting hearing set in San Antonio

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio court entered an order this afternoon setting a hearing for May 29 at 9 a.m. to decide what to do with the Texas maps – or, more exactly, to decide how to decide what to … Continue reading →

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Everybody sues the EPA

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas and our pollution-loving Attorney General do it because they think the EPA does too much to protect us from harm. Some other groups do it because they think the EPA isn’t doing enough. In the suit … Continue reading →

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Hotze sues Obamacare

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You would think that once the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional that that would settle things, but then you would not be Steve Hotze. Steve Hotze, a Houston-area physician and major Republican campaign donor who … Continue reading →

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Cities generally ignore Abbott’s domestic partnership opinion

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Attorney General Greg Abbott’s opinion [last] week, while not binding, is the latest of several challenges to same-sex benefits across the country that so far have had mixed results in the courts and prompted changes after officials … Continue reading →

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Texas versus EPA, round one zillion

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The desire to coddle polluters is strong in this one. A Texas-led coalition of energy-producing states has asked the Supreme Court to hear a case involving the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. … Continue reading →

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