Still a crook any way you look
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals on Tuesday struck down Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to halt Harris County’s legal fund to defend undocumented immigrants in court.
While the letter appears to be a legal win for Harris County, justices concluded that the opinion won’t prevent the state from continuing to argue that the county’s Immigrant Legal Services Fund is a violation of the state’s constitution.
The state appealed the ruling after a Harris County judge in December rejected Paxton’s attempt to shutter the program. In its appeal, the state argued the legal defense fund constitutes unconstitutional grants of public funds to private entities and serves no public purpose.
Harris County attorneys fought that notion and argued that the program — which was approved by the Harris County Commissioners Court in 2021 on a party-line vote — strengthens the economy and keeps families together.
The justices’ letter on Tuesday asserts the program has operated for nearly five years with no apparent objection or controversy.
“The state has yet to produce proof that, despite several years in operation, the program has resulted in any actual harm to residents of Harris County or the state,” according to the letter.
Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne on Tuesday said the county has a clear authority to continue operating the program.
“This is an important win for Harris County and the families who rely on this program,” Fombonne said. “The court recognized that the attorney general’s claims don’t match the facts. This program has operated responsibly for years and continues to serve a legitimate public purpose.”
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The justices’ letter says that under the gift clause, the county can not make a ‘no-strings-attached’ payment of public funds to private legal service providers — “but that does not appear to be the case here.”
The county’s contracts require providers to document client eligibility, and providers have to submit monthly invoices detailing services rendered, according to the letter.
See here and here for the background, and here for a copy of the opinion. Not much to add to the story here, just another reminder that a lot of these lawsuits Paxton has been filing lately have been glorified press releases where the main purpose is the headline, for the titillation of Republican primary voters, backed up by little to no evidence. It’s performance over substance, which honestly is as on-brand for the likes of Ken Paxton as it gets. He also lost at the district court level in Bexar County recently (*), so it’s just non-stop Loser Time for him over here. Isn’t that nice?
(*) He did get a small win from the 15th Court in the Bexar County case, but that was mostly because the district court there had made a more expansive ruling for the plaintiffs.