Category Archives: Legal matters

I don’t know what the practical effects of this are going to be, but it sure sounds like a big deal. A federal judge’s ruling that Texas is not living up to its obligation to properly educate students who struggle … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Breaking news. The Supreme Court declared Wednesday that executions are too severe a punishment for child rape, despite the “years of long anguish” for victims, in a ruling that restricts the death penalty to murder and crimes against the state. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in 2006, the city of San Antonio filed a lawsuit against online hotel bookers, claiming that they were paying an insufficient amount of hotel taxes. Basically, sites like Travelocity book a boatload of rooms at a fixed discount price, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I will be keeping an eye on this. Former Dallas Cowboy Ron Springs, who has been in a coma since the fall after surgery to remove a cyst, is one of 11 plaintiffs challenging Texas’ medical malpractice cap in a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The lawsuit filed by grand jurors in the David Medina arson investigation is called “doubtful” by at least one expert interviewed by the Chronicle. “I can’t see any merit whatsoever to it,” University of Houston law professor David Crump said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Boy howdy does this open a can of worms. This is a press release that hit my inbox a few minutes ago: MEDINA GRAND JURY SUES DA TO GO PUBLIC In what is believed to be the first suit of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s something you don’t see every day – members of the Texas Legislature telling the State Supreme Court that they’ve been misinterpreted. In an unusual move, four legislators have asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse a recent decision that, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is the day that the Texas Observer tries once again to get the Department of Public Safety to hand over some security tapes so it can see if GOP sugar daddy James Leininger was illegally lobbying the Lege inside … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember how the Texas Observer won a court ruling last November to compel the Department of Public Safety to turn over security videos from the Capitol hallways in order to see if GOP sugar daddy James Leininger was there to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The NYT had a story on Friday about an increase in the number of doctors in Texas, which is being claimed by tort “reformers” as proof of their success. I’ve been over this ground plenty of times, so I’m going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My buddy Matt sent me this NYT editorial about a legal challenge to the way in which New York State elects its judges. The United States Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a challenge to New York’s undemocratic method of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Clay Robison provides a great example of why 2003’s tort “reform” amendment continues to stand as one of the biggest con jobs ever perpetratred on the state. Retired orthopedic surgeon Forney Fleming was just what the doctor ordered, or so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have a bad feeling about this. The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether voter identification laws unfairly deter the poor and minorities from voting, stepping into a contentious partisan issue in advance of the 2008 elections. The justices … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As someone whose collegiate sports loyalties lie outside the UT/A&M axis, I found the lawsuit against an Aggie merchandiser for violating UT’s trademark on the Bevo logo to be more amusement than anything else. And while I generally side with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not really sure what to say about the Chron’s rather harrowing series on how messed up the Harris County Probate Court system can be, other than I sure am glad we’ve done estate planning, and I sure as hell … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What John says. Most people do not want to sit on a jury, and I was no different. Being away for a couple of days was quite disruptive (and this was a very short trial). Everybody has other things they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know how people who are involved in lawsuits are advised by their attorneys not to say anything about the case while the litigation is pending? This would be the reason why. It was a Perry Mason moment updated for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good. A federal judge in Philadelphia struck down a 1998 law Thursday that made it a crime for Web sites to allow children to gain access to material deemed “harmful.” The ruling is the second major setback in federal efforts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

All things considered, this is probably moot, but Governor Perry has been sued over his HPV executive order. Here’s Courthouse News: Parents of three girls have sued Gov. Rick Perry to protect their daughters from inoculation with a vaccine against … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Inside the Texas Capitol had a bit of an epiphany regarding the TXU fast-track matter, for which Governor Perry was slapped down on Tuesday. He’s seeing a cap-and-trade angle that TXU might be trying to exploit while it still can. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good. A state district judge today blocked Gov. Rick Perry’s executive order creating a fast-track permitting process for coal-fired electric generating plants, a ruling that also could impact the debate over Perry’s order requiring cervical cancer vaccinations for pre-teen girls. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And from the Stuff I Was Going To Publish Yesterday But Didn’t Have The Time Department: Eric Scheffey, the poster boy for tort “reform” opponents who was arrested in 2005 for allegedly practicing medicine without the license he finally had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Elsewhere in video camera news, the Texas Observer has won a legal victory that may have some interesting ramifications. From their press release: A state district judge has decided that the Texas Department of Public Safety has no legal right … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s an idea: Why not tax those huge punitive damage awards that juries hand out like candy to greedy trial lawyers? Doesn’t that sound like a great way to add to the state’s coffers without really adding to anyone’s overall … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Lone Star Project has the details of the lawsuit filed against Attorney General Greg Abbott over his office’s investigations into allegations of voter fraud (see here for background). You can read the full complaint here (PDF). Here’s the executive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s been a lot of noise made by Republicans in the past couple of years about ballot fraud. It’s what’s been driving their efforts to require picture IDs when voting, and now it’s driving Attorney General Greg Abbott’s investigations into … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Houston Dems, the Texas Civil Rights Project has filed a lawsuit to seek an injunction to force the use of paper ballots in Texas. From their press release: Voters, civil rights groups and a statewide candidate filed a petition … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I mentioned before that the city of San Antonio is suing discount online hotel brokers over lost tax revenues. The city of Houston has looked into filing a similar suit, and has now taken further action on this front. After … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The city of San Antonio is suing online travel brokers, claiming that they are insufficiently paying its hotel occupancy tax. Dallas-based Hotels.com and Travelweb and Southlake-based Travelocity.com, a subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TSG), were among 19 firms that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Starting next week, you’re going to need a reason other than crappy pay to weasel out of jury duty. Texas will no longer be among the stingiest states when it comes to pay for jury duty, raising the $6-a-day rate … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The good news is that there’s momentum in Congress for federal legislation to protect consumers when their personal data is stolen from brokers like ChoicePoint. The bad news is that this new law may well be weaker than current state … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed a lawsuit against Sony for violating the state’s new anti-spyware law. Attorney General Greg Abbott said he filed the lawsuit under a new Texas state law forbidding such hidden tracking tools, and predicted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When I read this Chron story from yesterday about a new state database of insured drivers, my first reaction was “When exactly did that happen?” No matter how closely one tries to follow the Lege, they still manage to slip … Continue reading → Continue reading →