The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
The third-term governor appears determined to win any battle — even if it means scorched-earth primary crusades or trying to boot duly elected legislators from office. Full Story
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The dismissal comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo narrowing the enforcement of laws relating to foreign lobbying and bribery. Full Story
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Senate Bill 10 would shield victims from prosecution from some crimes if they’re threatened or coerced into the act by their trafficker. Full Story
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Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue. Full Story
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The governor and attorney general have asked the court to find that Democratic lawmakers abandoned their seats when they left Texas to delay a new congressional map. Full Story
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Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse. Full Story
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Local records released this week — after a yearslong lawsuit —affirm previous reporting about law enforcement’s flawed response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. Full Story
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The order came at the request of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who O’Rourke accused in a separate lawsuit of going on a “fishing expedition, constitutional rights be damned.” Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court said in 2021 the Constitution allows members to thwart legislation by leaving the state. Abbott wants them to reconsider. Full Story
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The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state’s voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots do not violate the Civil Rights Act. Full Story
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The three-judge panel agreed with a lower court that Ken Paxton’s office can’t question officials from Catholic Charities under oath without first filing a lawsuit. Full Story
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The Department of Justice said four districts unconstitutionally combined Black and Hispanic voters, a charge the state disputes. If the proposed map passes, two will still be multiracial. Full Story
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The new district lines could be considered by the entire state House as soon as early next week. Full Story
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A similar proposal stalled out earlier this year over disagreements between the House and Senate. This time, lawmakers might clash over whether to approve the new bill along with a constitutional amendment. Full Story
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Professor Timothy Jackson was accused of making racist remarks at the height of the racial reckoning that followed George Floyd's murder. His free speech suit against the university comes to an end in the era of DEI bans. Full Story
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Moves to end bond for migrants and fire dozens of immigration judges deprive undocumented detainees of due process and may keep them in overcrowded centers longer, experts say. Full Story
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The 2023 law, previously ruled unconstitutional by a Travis County judge, prevents cities from enforcing ordinances that don’t align with broad swaths of state law. Full Story
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Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules when he arrived at the Texas border with Mexico. Then Trump rewrote them. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general said U.S. Masters Swimming violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act by allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s events. Full Story
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DPS troopers labeled Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who remains in a Salvadoran prison, a Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member based on a photo of him with a tattooed man. Full Story
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