Tag Archives: lawsuit

“Unprecedented” meddling in the Census

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They weren’t subtle about it. A newly disclosed memorandum citing “unprecedented” meddling by the Trump administration in the 2020 census and circulated among top Census Bureau officials indicates how strongly they sought to resist efforts by the administration to manipulate … Continue reading →

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Former Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton sues a blogger

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Obviously, a story like this is going to attract my attention. A former Texas oil and gas regulator has accused a blogger of helping derail his 2020 reelection campaign by falsely claiming he had an extramarital affair. In a lawsuit filed last month … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court rejects mandamus over Commissioners Court redistricting

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The primary will proceed as scheduled, but the issue could be revisited sometime after the 2022 election. The Texas Supreme Court rejected an effort by Republican commissioners and voters to block Harris County’s recent redistricting plan on Friday, suggesting another … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks Supreme Court to toss that pesky whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same argument, different court. Either Ken Paxton can be held accountable, or he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Texas Supreme Court to toss out a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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It would seem that the San Marcos Police Department has some major problems

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Geez. The city of San Marcos admits in new court documents to text exchanges among its police officers about the Joe Biden bus incident in October 2020. But it denies what it calls a “characterization” of the exchanges by the … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit gets set to put the final nail in SB8 legal challenges

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The fix was always in. In a contentious hearing Friday, a federal appeals court indicated it is likely to send Texas’ restrictive abortion law to the state supreme court, a move that could add months or longer before the case … Continue reading →

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Another lawsuit filed over Commissioners Court redistricting

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What a bunch of crybabies. A former county commissioner is suing Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, claiming Hidalgo and the county violated state law when they met to approve redistricting maps. Former Commissioner Steve Radack argues the commissioners violated the … Continue reading →

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Three comments about three vaccine mandate news stories

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Item one: A U.S. district judge in North Texas has blocked a mask mandate and vaccine requirement for staff and students in the Head Start program that was issued by President Joe Biden. Head Start is a federal school readiness … Continue reading →

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SB8 plaintiffs want their lawsuit moved back to district court

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

As is usually the case, the lawless Fifth Circuit is the problem, with a generous assist from SCOTUS. With the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set to hear arguments about Texas’ restrictive new abortion law Friday, abortion providers have … Continue reading →

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What does “race blind” redistricting even mean?

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good question. In states like Texas and North Carolina, Republican lawmakers in charge of redrawing the political maps for the next decade say that the new plans are “race blind.” Their opponents in court say that the claim is implausible and one … Continue reading →

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Law firm representing Spring Branch ISD withdraws from redistricting lawsuit

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. The law firm Thompson & Horton LLP has represented Spring Branch ISD in multiple legal matters since 2005. While Thompson & Horton were originally representing SBISD in the Voting Rights Act lawsuit that Virginia Elizondo filed against the district … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over Harris County Commissioners Court redistricting tossed

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Missed this over the holidays. A Harris County Judge on Wednesday tossed a lawsuit from Republican commissioners and voters over new county maps that favor Democrats. Judge Dedra Davis ruled in favor of Harris County, finding that Republican commissioners Jack … Continue reading →

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Preliminary injunction sought against mail ballot restrictions

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and the Harris County Attorney’s Office moved for a preliminary injunction in Longoria v. Paxton, their challenge … Continue reading →

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Another look at the Aguirre/Hotze debacle

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Man, do I ever want this to be the end of Steven Hotze as a political force. A well-funded far-right group—that made inroads with Stop The Steal organizations, paid a former police captain more than $200,000 to hunt ballots, and became entangled in a … Continue reading →

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How’s that online voter registration thing going?

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty well, it seems. So well, perhaps, that the state of Texas doesn’t want to tell you how well. Since a federal judge forced Texas nearly a year and a half ago to offer limited online voter registration, 1.5 million … Continue reading →

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The state of the state redistricting lawsuits

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

A good update, and a reminder that not all of the action is in federal court. In two cases heard [December 14 and 15], a group of mostly Democratic, Hispanic lawmakers from both chambers challenged the legality of when and … Continue reading →

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Our year in COVID

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It was bad. How it is next year is at least partially up to us. Texas recorded a 35 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths in 2021, compared to the first year of the pandemic, even though vaccines have been available … Continue reading →

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The “prison gerrymandering” lawsuit

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Of the many lawsuits filed so far over Texas redistricting, this is the one I know the least about. Nearly a quarter of a million people were incarcerated in Texas when the Census was taken last year. When lawmakers redrew … Continue reading →

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From the “Keeping track of all these lawsuits is hard” department

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted on Democracy Docket: Today, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas denied a motion to dismiss Vote.org v. Callanen. The case, filed earlier this summer, challenges Texas’ “wet signature” law that requires individuals who submit … Continue reading →

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Apparently, we’re still litigating whether Texas Central is a railroad

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I admit, I’m a bit confused by this. The Texas attorney general’s office has put its weight behind a landowner’s case against the companies developing a controversial Dallas-Houston bullet train, arguing they can’t force people to sell parcels needed for … Continue reading →

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The botched “non-citizen” voter purge continues

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

At some point we need to recognize the fact that our Secretary of State’s office is completely, and maybe maliciously, inept at doing this. Texas’ last attempt to scour its voting rolls for noncitizens two years ago quickly devolved into … Continue reading →

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Rep. Martinez-Fischer sues over CD35

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

One more federal redistricting lawsuit to add to the pile. Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer filed a lawsuit today challenging boundaries of the recently redrawn U.S. House District 35. In the lawsuit, Fischer claims that the redrawn map violates … Continue reading →

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Federal complaint filed over I-45 project

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Missed this in the barrage of news from the last few days. Critics of the plan to remake Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston filed a nearly 100-page complaint to federal officials Thursday, urging even greater scrutiny of the project’s … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS finds another way to screw abortion rights

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Surely you’re not surprised. The Supreme Court has formally returned a lawsuit over Texas’ six-week abortion ban to a federal appeals court that has twice allowed the law to stay in effect, rather than to a district judge who sought … Continue reading →

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Biden employer vaccine mandate back on

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. A federal appeals court panel on Friday allowed President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers to move ahead, reversing a previous decision on a requirement that could affect some 84 million U.S workers. … Continue reading →

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Settlement in Larry Nassar abuse case

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The legal wrangling between USA Gymnastics and the hundreds of victims of sexual abuse by former national team doctor Larry Nassar, among others, is over after a $380 million settlement was reached. The fight for substantive change within the … Continue reading →

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Travis Scott speaks

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Really not sure this was his best move. Amid countless lawsuits against him, Travis Scott sat down with The Breakfast Club radio personality, Charlamagne tha God, for his first public interview since a dangerous crowd surge injured hundreds and left … Continue reading →

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Two Georgia election workers sue over post-election harassment

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I am so rooting for them. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the Gateway Pundit—one of the country’s leading sources of pro-Trump misinformation—helped instigate a vicious harassment campaign against two Black Georgia election workers, according to a new lawsuit. As Republicans desperately … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS allows providers’ lawsuit against SB8 to proceed

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lot to unpack here. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the legal challenge brought forward by abortion providers against Texas’ abortion restriction law may continue, bringing new life into what has become the most significant effort … Continue reading →

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State judge rules SB8 is unconstitutional

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds a little better than it actually is, but it’s still pretty good. A Texas judge on Thursday ruled that the state’s controversial law restricting abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy violates the Texas Constitution, saying it should not … Continue reading →

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I’ll see your AstroWorld lawsuit and raise you $10 billion

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a big number, though that’s partly because there are a lot of plaintiffs. A local law firm has just filed the largest suit to date against Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival after the mass-casualty tragedy that claimed the lives of … Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues Texas over redistricting maps

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Add it to the queue. The Department of Justice is suing Texas over its new redistricting maps, alleging that lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and Black voters while redrawing the state’s political districts this year. The lawsuit, filed in federal … Continue reading →

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A brief look at the winter storm litigation

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This story is actually about the judge who will be presiding over winter storm cases, but it caught my eye for a reason that will be apparent. Sylvia A. Matthews presided over more than 175 jury trials and 160 bench … Continue reading →

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HISD will keep its mask mandate

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is in response to that recent Fifth Circuit ruling about mask mandates in schools and whether Greg Abbott’s ban on them violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Houston Independent School District will keep its mask mandate in place, … Continue reading →

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