Tag Archives: lawsuit

The legal case against the “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ken Paxton says that the so-called “sanctuary cities” bill meets legal muster, and the state won’t get sued to smithereens if it passes. Not all lawyers agree with that. The office of the Texas Attorney General can no better predict … Continue reading →

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AG’s office sanctioned in voter registration lawsuit

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They were warned. A federal judge has ordered sanctions against the state of Texas for blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court order to hand over thousands of pages of documents in a lawsuit challenging its voter registration practices. Texas … Continue reading →

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Twice the trials, twice the fun

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Paxton special prosecutors want to separate the charges into two trials. Special prosecutors said Thursday they would like to try Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton first on charges he failed to register as an investment advisor, pushing a lengthy … Continue reading →

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Paxton files brief in favor of Muslim ban

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Because of course he does. Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an amicus brief Wednesday expressing his support of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, effectively becoming the first state attorney general to back the controversial executive order. Under the executive order, … Continue reading →

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Pasadena won’t fight election order

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The May election in Pasadena will proceed under the pre-redistricting eight-district Council map. The city of Pasadena will not fight an appellate court ruling over its election system, a decision that will allow the upcoming May council elections to proceed … Continue reading →

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The people who would have been denied the opportunity to vote in 2016

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There were a lot of them. At least 16,400 Texans who voted in the November election wouldn’t have been able to cast ballots if the state’s voter identification law had been in full effect, state voting records show. […] Through … Continue reading →

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Harris County really needs to settle that bail practices lawsuit

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Enough already. Two Houston-based lawmakers called on Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan Friday to dismiss an attorney hired to represent county judges in a federal civil rights lawsuit, after that attorney claimed in a hearing that many people jailed in … Continue reading →

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A telemedicine breakthrough

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is good to see. A years-long fight over the use of telemedicine in Texas appears to have been resolved, with medical and industry groups agreeing to compromise legislation that, if it passes, could benefit patients, especially those in rural … Continue reading →

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Trump Justice Department to drop appeals in transgender bathroom directive case

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From ThinkProgress: The Trump administration has elected not to contest a Texas federal judge’s injunction barring the federal government from implementing Obama administration guidelines that protect transgender kids in schools. Oral arguments for the Obama Justice Department’s appeal of the … Continue reading →

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ReBuild re-vote?

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It could come to that, but it’s not clear to me that it has to. The funding scheme for ReBuild Houston, the city’s street and drainage repair initiative, remains in limbo after a state appeals court agreed Thursday that the … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court hears TDP-KSP appeal

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here‘s a little blast from the past. A meandering legal dispute between Texas Democrats and a Houston tea party group has landed before the Texas Supreme Court in a case that could overturn longtime election laws that require certain political … Continue reading →

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Texas Central withdraws its land access lawsuits

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. The private developer of a planned bullet train between Dallas and Houston has withdrawn more than a dozen lawsuits against Texas landowners that sought court orders allowing the company access to private property to survey land for the 240-mile … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Pasadena election order

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Pasadena election system that a judge ruled violated the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against Hispanics cannot be used in the upcoming May council elections, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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The craft brewers’ legislative agenda

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Same as it was last time. Now that the 85th Texas Legislature is in session, lobbyists for the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, the organization that advances the interests of the state’s craft brewers, are going to push for more. Namely, … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit hears Pasadena redistricting appeal

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is to decide whether to lift or leave in place Judge Lee Rosenthal’s ruling that the pre-2013 all-single-member-district Council map will be in place for the May elections in Pasadena. The City of Pasadena asked for the expedited hearing … Continue reading →

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Paxton prosecutor pay suspended

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Whiplash! Collin County must immediately stop paying the three lawyers prosecuting Ken Paxton’s criminal fraud case, a Dallas court has said. The 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas on Monday temporarily halted the payments — the result of a lawsuit … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit threatened over special education limits

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The clock is ticking. Disability advocates on Monday threatened to sue the Texas Education Agency unless the state permanently ends its special education enrollment benchmark within the next month. The advocates said immediate action is necessary because of the “devastating … Continue reading →

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Look for the helpers

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They’re at the airports now. Luis Ruiz, an immigration attorney with his own practice, set up shop early Sunday at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He’d seen news of attorneys around the country flocking to airports to help people detained under the … Continue reading →

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State fails to respond to voter registration lawsuit

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on a different voting rights lawsuit from last year. Civil rights lawyers suing Texas over its voter registration practices are asking a federal judge to sanction the state for allegedly blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court … Continue reading →

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Interview with Jose Garza

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

So it’s been a busy couple of weeks for the voter ID litigation. There was the motion by the Justice Department to delay the hearing on whether the law was passed with discriminatory intent, which everyone expects is a prelude … Continue reading →

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Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is who the now-injuncted executive order suspending refugee resettlement and immigration visas from certain countries was supposed to “protect” us from. The lawyers said that one of the Iraqis detained at Kennedy Airport, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, had worked on … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters, National news | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

“Fetal remains” rule blocked

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks ruled Texas cannot require health providers to bury or cremate fetuses, delivering another blow to state leaders in the reproductive rights debate. On Friday afternoon, Sparks wrote in his ruling that Texas Department … Continue reading →

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So what will the Justice Department do with voter ID now?

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We don’t know yet. Hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Department of Justice filed to postpone a hearing on the Texas Voter ID law. The request was granted. The DOJ had previously argued that the law intentionally discriminated … Continue reading →

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Pasadena appellate hearing set

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Mark your calendars. With deadlines looming for the upcoming May elections, a federal appeals court has agreed to hear arguments Feb. 1 in a voting rights lawsuit that overturned the Pasadena election system. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS will not review voter ID ruling

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

For now. The Supreme Court issued orders from its January 19 conference this morning. After granting review in two cases from that conference last week, the justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket today. But there … Continue reading →

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Pat Van Houte for Pasadena Mayor

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is the local race to watch this May. A Pasadena councilwoman who became a key witness in a recent federal lawsuit contesting the city’s redrawn voting districts said she will run for mayor in the upcoming election. Pat Van … Continue reading →

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Appeals court tosses Paxton prosecutor payment lawsuit again

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Round and round we go. The three lawyers prosecuting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can continue to get paid, at least for now, a Dallas appeals court decided this week. For more than a year, local real estate developer Jeffory … Continue reading →

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Voter ID hearing postponed

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I fear this is a portent of things to come. Within hours of Donald Trump being sworn in as president Friday, a Corpus Christi federal court postponed a scheduled hearing in the Texas Voter ID case until next month at … Continue reading →

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State Supreme Court will take up same sex marriage appeal

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Somehow, this wasn’t the worst thing that happened yesterday. After pressure from Texas GOP leadership, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court on Friday reversed course and agreed to take up a same-sex marriage case. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of … Continue reading →

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One for the road

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

How about one last lawsuit against the federal government, for old times’ sake? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced he, along with 13 other mostly Republican-led states, would sue the federal government yet again to block a recently … Continue reading →

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Planned Parenthood still in Medicaid

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

For now, pending judgment. U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks on Thursday delayed Planned Parenthood’s ouster from the state’s Medicaid program until Feb. 21. […] During closing arguments Thursday hearing, attorneys from both sides cited clips from the video. Sparks … Continue reading →

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Judge affirms Pasadena redistricting order

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Back to the previous map, pending appeal. Hours after candidates began filing paperwork to run for city office, a federal judge Wednesday denied a request by Pasadena officials to delay her order that the city election be run under an … Continue reading →

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Here we go again with Planned Parenthood and Medicaid

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Rooting for another injunction. Texas officials are back in federal court this week over abortion-related policy, this time to defend efforts to oust Planned Parenthood from Medicaid. Planned Parenthood has asked U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks to block the ouster … Continue reading →

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Pasadena will appeal redistricting ruling

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. An attorney representing the city of Pasadena said Tuesday the city will appeal a ruling that found Pasadena deliberately violated the voting rights of its Hispanic population, a move that could have immediate consequences for the city’s … Continue reading →

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