Tag Archives: SCOTUS

“Fetal remains” lawsuit filed

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Today the Center for Reproductive Rights filed new litigation against the state of Texas over unconstitutional new regulations that mandate the burial or cremation of embryonic and fetal tissue that results from abortions, miscarriages, or ectopic pregnancy surgery … Continue reading →

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You can’t stop the faithless electors

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So says Carolyn Shapiro, associate professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she is co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States. Earlier this week, in a New York Times op-ed, Texas presidential elector Chris … Continue reading →

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“Fetal remains” lawsuit in the works

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready. Health providers and abortion clinics have less than two weeks to figure out how to comply with Texas’ new fetal remains rules — that is, if a lawsuit doesn’t halt the process first. Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of … Continue reading →

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The costs of the “fetal remains” rule

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to cost a lot of people a lot of money. State health officials have contended that the “minimum costs in complying with the rules” would total $450 a year per health care facility, arguing that those costs … Continue reading →

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Two more lawsuit updates

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The ban on the transgender bathroom rule remains in place pending appeals. Continued lack of access in public schools to bathrooms matching transgender persons’ gender identity won’t cause them irreparable harm, a Texas federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Reed … Continue reading →

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Federal court rules there is such a thing as a too-partisan gerrymander

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Worth keeping an eye on. In a potentially transformative decision that could hobble partisan gerrymandering and restore a degree of fairness to many legislative races, a divided federal court held on Monday that Wisconsin’s state assembly maps are unconstitutional. The … Continue reading →

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So now what for voter ID?

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard to say how much prospects have changed now that Donald Trump gets to appoint the ninth Supreme Court justice, but it’s fair to say that thing haven’t improved for the plaintiffs. Five years ago, Texas passed one of … Continue reading →

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Pasadena voting rights trial begins

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Mike Snyder provides an update. [This] week in a Houston federal courtroom, [the Voting Rights Act] will again be invoked in a challenge to an allegedly discriminatory council system, this time in a suburban city that’s undergone a … Continue reading →

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Republicans take their desperate shot at limiting same sex marriage

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Pathetic. After coming out on the losing end of a United States Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, Texas Republican leaders are now looking to the Texas Supreme Court to narrow the scope of that landmark ruling. Gov. Greg Abbott, … Continue reading →

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Republicans join Woodfill’s ridiculous anti-spousal benefits crusade

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Shoveling sand against the tide. Fifty Republican members of the Texas Legislature have signed a court brief arguing that the same-sex spouses of government employees shouldn’t be entitled to health insurance and other benefits. The “friend-of-the-court” brief was submitted Friday … Continue reading →

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The cost of defending HB2

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It was quite expensive. Texas could be on the hook for more than $4.5 million as part of its failed legal battle to defend its 2013 abortion restrictions, which the U.S. Supreme struck down as unconstitutional in June. The Center … Continue reading →

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Jared Woodfill never stops never stopping

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. Fifteen months after the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land, anti-LGBT groups in Texas are still fighting the decision. Jonathan Saenz, president of the right-wing lobby group Texas Values, and Houston … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS rejects reconsideration of immigration ruling

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined the Obama administration’s request to reconsider a controversial immigration program that would have let millions of undocumented immigrants stay in the country legally. The program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful … Continue reading →

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Clean Power Plan’s day in the DC court

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. Dozens of lawyers from the government, industry and public interest groups packed the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, to hear the divisive case that comes just weeks before a heated presidential election … Continue reading →

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Back to court for the Clean Power Plan

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. One of the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s final acts on Earth may have been to doom it. Last February, on the final Tuesday of Scalia’s life, the Supreme Court handed down a 5–4 decision suspending the Obama … Continue reading →

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State files inevitable voter ID appeal to SCOTUS

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Texas wants to take its voter identification battle to the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked the justices to hear his arguments about why the state’s photo ID requirements for voting do not … Continue reading →

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You are now free to visually blight Texas highways

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

WTF? Opponents of billboards and other signs along Texas roadways reacted on Monday with dismay to an appeals court decision striking down significant portions of the Texas Highway Beautification Act, saying the ruling could lead to a litany of signs … Continue reading →

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Texas begins its voter ID education outreach

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For what it’s worth. Texas on Wednesday kicked off a voter education campaign ahead of the November elections amid heightened scrutiny of the state’s voter ID law. Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and minority rights groups, … Continue reading →

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When is Texas going to file that voter ID appeal?

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Lone Star Project would like to know. Last week, Texas AG Ken Paxton made a big show in the press by announcing that he would file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the ruling of the 5th … Continue reading →

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Texas to appeal voter ID ruling to SCOTUS

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, whatever. Texas plans to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a lower court decision that found the state’s voter ID law discriminates against minorities. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said Tuesday it will appeal the ruling … Continue reading →

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Voter ID changes approved

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’re all set. Texas’ voter ID law, cast as the strictest in the nation, will be substantially watered down during November’s election after a federal judge Wednesday approved a deal that allows those lacking required identification to cast a ballot … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS blocks order on transgender bathroom access for students

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For now. The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a court order that had allowed a transgender boy to use the boys’ bathroom in a Virginia high school. The vote was 5 to 3, with Justice Stephen G. Breyer joining … Continue reading →

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Get ready for the next abortion lawsuit

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Expect it in a couple of months. Texas’ proposed rules requiring the cremation or burial of fetal remains “will almost certainly trigger costly litigation,” reproductive rights lawyers say. In a letter to the Texas Department of State Health Services, lawyers with … Continue reading →

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Friday was a very good day for voting rights

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In North Carolina: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory is nothing short of a beat down. The court does not simply tear apart major provisions … Continue reading →

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Media covers latest voting rights lawsuit

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Glad they finally noticed. A group of Hispanic voters has filed a lawsuit challenging how Texas selects judges to its top two courts, arguing that statewide elections for the state Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals dilutes the … Continue reading →

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If we can’t ban it, we’ll BS about it

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The “it” in question is of course abortion, with the state of Texas lying to women about its effects and risks. Death and infertility were just two of the risks a doctor described to Kryston Skinner when she chose to … Continue reading →

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What next for voter ID?

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Hasen, writing in Slate: The trial court was ready to throw out the entire law, but the 5th Circuit said such a remedy went too far. The court held that when a trial court finds a law has a … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit affirms voter ID ruling

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Made it by the deadline. Texas’ voter identification law violates the U.S. law prohibiting racial discrimination in elections, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed previous rulings that the 2011 voter ID law … Continue reading →

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Can we try this again with nine Justices, please?

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t hurt to ask. The Obama administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the legality of the president’s controversial immigration enforcement plan, which stalled last month when the high court deadlocked on an appeal. The program, known … Continue reading →

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First potty case reaches SCOTUS

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. The legal fight over transgender bathroom rights reached the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time on Wednesday as a Virginia county school board sought to block an order that lets a student who was born a … Continue reading →

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We should hear something soon on voter ID

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So says Rick Hasen: The federal challenge to Texas’s strict voter identification law is pending before the entire Fifth Circuit sitting en banc.  The Supreme Court set a soft July 20 deadline for a decision—after that the Court has invited … Continue reading →

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State finally releases abortion data

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s exactly what you’d expect. The Texas Department of State Health Services has released the state’s 2014 abortion data after weeks of allegationsthat the agency had been intentionally withholding the numbers. The 2014 data is significant because it is the … Continue reading →

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Wendy Davis takes a victory lap

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As well she should. Wendy Davis, the woman whose 11-hour filibuster focused national attention on Texas’ efforts to restrict abortion access in 2013, celebrated Monday when the Supreme Court ruled that the state law was unconstitutional. “I’m overjoyed,” Davis said … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS strikes down HB2

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Hallelujah. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed Texas abortion providers a major victory by overturning Texas’ 2013 abortion restrictions. On a 5-3 vote, the high court overturned restrictions passed as part of House Bill 2 in 2013 that required … Continue reading →

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