Tag Archives: SCOTUS

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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PPP polling miscellany

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Public Policy Polling has some additional results from its latest venture into Texas. -By a 54/21 margin Texas voters say that they support the Voting Rights Act, including 45/23 even with Republicans. Only 29% of voters say that they favor … 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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Burnam to re-file marriage equality bill for Special Session 2

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Upon the announcement [Wednesday] of a second special legislative session by Governor Rick Perry, as well as the Supreme Court decision on the Defense of Marriage Act, State Representative Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) today announced his intention … Continue reading →

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Clock strikes midnight for North Forest

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This was a tough blow for NFISD. North Forest school officials lost one of their final court battles Wednesday, making the district’s state-ordered merger into HISD five days from now increasingly likely. U.S. District Judge David Hittner rejected the last-ditch … 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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Redistricting hearings schedule

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Attend one if you can. Senate and House committees tapped to work on redistricting during the special session Tuesday released times, locations and dates for field hearings around the state. The Senate will hold two field hearings, one in Corpus … Continue reading →

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Justice Department engaged in North Forest closure

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A possible ray of hope for supporters of North Forest ISD, which is still hoping to survive past July 1 when the TEA’s order for it to be subsumed into HISD takes effect. The chief of the Justice Department’s voting … 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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Lege passes a Lilly Ledbetter bill

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is some fine work, but it’s a little early to be giddy about it. A bill that seeks to prevent pay discrimination against women narrowly passed the Texas Senate on Wednesday. “Employers who are doing the right thing and … 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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The fight over domestic partnership benefits is just beginning

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Stuff like this was inevitable. Leaders of two Christian groups want City Council to stop extending benefits to domestic partners of city employees, now that the state attorney general has called the benefits unconstitutional. City officials reject the demand, at … Continue reading →

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Abbott predicts special session for redistricting

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

For the first time, someone says out loud the rumor of a special session on redistricting. Attorney General Greg Abbott let House members know in the Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday that he expects and is hoping for a special … Continue reading →

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So where does redistricting stand?

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: The Texas Legislature is in the final stretch of its regular session (sine die on May 27), and, at this point, in the calendar, if anything gets done, it looks like it will have to start on … 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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Abbott opines against domestic partnership benefits

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The state Constitution prohibits government entities from recognizing domestic partnerships and offering insurance benefits to those couples, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote in an opinion on Monday. In the nonbinding … Continue reading →

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Redistricting remains a partisan issue

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We’re not surprised by this, right? Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger offered a redistricting bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would formally adopt interim maps drawn by a federal court in San Antonio last year. The maps for Congressional, … Continue reading →

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Senate committee to take up interim maps bill

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: The Texas Senate’s state affairs committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, April 18, at 2 p.m. (or upon adjournment) to consider SB 1524 – State Sen. Kel Seliger’s bill to adopt the court-drawn interim maps as … Continue reading →

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Still pondering Abbott’s redistricting motives

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib’s Ross Ramsey wonders what Greg Abbott is up to. Greg Abbott is selling a redistricting nostrum, telling Texas legislators they could cut their legal risks by adopting new political maps right away. It is a hard sell. Lawmakers … Continue reading →

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Skilling might get a sentence reduction

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

But don’t expect him to get out of jail anytime soon. Attorneys for former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling and the Department of Justice are discussing an agreement to reduce his prison time and possibly avert a drawn-out court battle. Those … Continue reading →

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“One person, one vote” upheld

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More accurately, a challenge to the constitutional doctrine of “one person, one vote” was dismissed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has rejected a conservative challenge to the common practice of counting everyone, not just U.S. citizens, when adjusting … Continue reading →

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Getting on the same page on marriage equality

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Harold Cook asks a darned good question. As SCOTUS hears arguments on marriage equality this week, it reminds me of when the Texas Legislature voted for the state constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage in Texas eight years ago. Texas voters … Continue reading →

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Advising the court on redistricting

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Last Friday, all parties to the Texas redistricting lawsuit submitted their advisories to the San Antonio court, in which they told the court what they think it should do once the Supreme Court has rendered a decision on the Voting … Continue reading →

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Abbott asks for the interim maps

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. The recently dormant Texas redistricting issue woke up Thursday with a disagreement between the state’s attorney general and a Latino legislators’ group. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has called on the Legislature to make the current — and … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS same-sex marriage cases likely won’t affect Texas

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not yet, anyway. But it’s a matter of time. Charles “Rocky” Rhodes is a professor at South Texas College of Law. He says the case that involves the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is narrowly focused. “The provision of … Continue reading →

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