Category Archives: Legal matters

Paxton prosecutors respond to his “but I’m an orphan!” motion

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

They’ll fight it out on Friday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will be in a Houston court Friday in a nearly 9-year-old securities fraud case he is now seeking to dismiss. Paxton could face trial as early as April 15. … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues five cities over marijuana decriminalization ordinances

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Seemed likely something like this would happen eventually. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton — to block their ordinances decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession. In 2022, voters in the five … Continue reading →

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Food Not Bombs sues the city again

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. Food Not Bombs, a group of volunteers who serve meals outside Houston Public Library’s downtown branch, filed suit Tuesday against the city, alleging that a food-sharing ordinance is unconstitutional. The suit claims that the city’s … Continue reading →

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SCOTx has its hearing on gender affirming care ban

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know what to expect. The Texas Supreme Court heard a legal challenge Tuesday to a new state law banning doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a prohibition that a district court judge said was unconstitutional. After … Continue reading →

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Today’s Ken Paxton whistleblower trial update

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

He’s basically a professional defendant now. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could face a potentially expensive and uncomfortable jury trial to defend himself against former deputies after a Travis County judge declined Wednesday to end the case in the whistleblowers’ … Continue reading →

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SCOTx pauses Paxton deposition

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Delay, delay, delay… The Texas Supreme Court has halted depositions that were scheduled to begin Thursday in the whistleblower case against Attorney General Ken Paxton. The all-GOP court issued an order Tuesday staying the depositions and giving the parties until … Continue reading →

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Paxton special prosecutor pay update

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Situation more or less the same as before. Texas’ highest criminal court on Wednesday declined to intervene in the long-running battle over the prosecutors’ pay in the securities fraud case against Attorney General Ken Paxton. After a trial court judge … Continue reading →

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Paxton harasses another out of state clinic

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Disgusting, but par for the course with our degenerate AG. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking medical records from a Georgia telehealth clinic that offers gender transition care to young people in Texas and other states where the treatment … Continue reading →

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No, really, Paxton ordered to sit for deposition

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Oh yeah. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to end a whistleblower lawsuit against him has been dealt another blow after a Travis County judge denied his attempt to end the case without being deposed. The ruling, which Paxton’s office publicized … Continue reading →

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The Woodfill/Pressler story keeps getting uglier

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Truly gross. In 2017, a Houston college student wrote to the family of Paul Pressler, warning them that the former Texas judge and Southern Baptist leader was a pedophile. “There is a serious issue at hand,” he wrote in an … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit seeking January 6 emails from Abbott and Paxton can proceed

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lot of lawsuits out there against the state and/or the likes of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton. I do my best to be aware of them and keep track of them, but inevitably some things get lost in … Continue reading →

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Paxton ordered to sit for deposition anyway

Posted on January 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Bwa ha ha! A Travis County judge issued an order Friday for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sit for a deposition on Feb. 1 in the lawsuit brought by four of his former employees. However, some of those plaintiffs … Continue reading →

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Paxton will no longer fight the whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Kind of stunning, definitely a stunt, and also his latest and most desperate ploy to avoid being deposed. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his agency will stop fighting a whistleblower lawsuit by four former top executives who … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds injunction in book rating lawsuit

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday blocked a new Texas law that requires bookstores to rate books for sexual content and prohibits any deemed “sexually explicit” from the state’s public schools. A panel of three judges … Continue reading →

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Texas Medical Board asked to clarify abortion exceptions

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

If the Supreme Court won’t do it, then what else is there? Two attorneys have asked the Texas Medical Board to clarify what qualifies as a medical exception to the state’s abortion laws, following the Texas Supreme Court’s rejection last … Continue reading →

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Apparently that challenge to the 2023 Constitutional amendment elections just went away

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’d been wondering about this. Legal challenges that threatened to upend Texas voter-approved property tax cuts and increases to retired teachers’ pensions appear to have been squashed by a coordinated effort between the governor, the attorney general and the secretary … Continue reading →

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It’s official, Paxton will get deposed

Posted on January 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent. Attorney General Ken Paxton and his top aides will be forced to testify in a lawsuit accusing Paxton of violating the state’s whistleblower protection law after the Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency motion to block the … Continue reading →

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Paxton tries his whistleblower deposition luck with SCOTx

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This should be the end of the line, one way or another. Embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Texas Supreme Court to shield him from being deposed in an ongoing whistleblower lawsuit filed by four former agency employees. … Continue reading →

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A tale of living at the office

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I am oddly fascinated by this. A Republican candidate for Texas Senate who is backed by top state leaders is fighting a multifront legal battle against primary opponents who want to remove him from the ballot over residency questions. The … Continue reading →

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Paxton again ordered to sit for whistleblower deposition

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Keep on losing, Kenny. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could have to answer questions under oath in a lawsuit that prompted his impeachment last year. In a one-sentence order issued Friday evening, Texas’s Third Court of Appeals denied Paxton’s challenge … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS to hear Idaho EMTALA appeal

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This does sound ominous. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take up a case centered on abortion care in emergency medical situations, leapfrogging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was scheduled to hear arguments later this month. … Continue reading →

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New York sues bus companies hired by Texas to transport migrants

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this ought to be interesting. New York City filed a lawsuit on Thursday against 17 bus and transportation companies that have contracted with Texas to take thousands of migrants to the city as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, Legal matters | 3 Comments

Fifth Circuit rules EMTALA doesn’t apply to abortions

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A typically crappy ruling from our least favorite appeals court. Federal regulations do not require emergency rooms to perform life-saving abortions if it would run afoul of state law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. After the overturn of Roe … Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues over SB4

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

As they had threatened to do. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas on Wednesday over a new state law that allows Texas police to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the Texas-Mexico border illegally. “Texas cannot disregard the United States … Continue reading →

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Paxton still desperately trying to avoid being deposed

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

And still failing. The Texas Third Court of Appeals denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for an emergency stay of impending depositions in the whistleblower lawsuit that sparked his impeachment this year, according to a Wednesday court filing. The whistleblower … Continue reading →

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Southern Baptist Convention settles Paul Pressler sexual abuse lawsuit

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A big deal. The Southern Baptist Convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six-year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit slaps down “bad faith” obscenity prosecution

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is fascinating. An appeals court on Monday blocked a Texas district attorney from pursuing child pornography charges against Netflix for showing the French film “Cuties.” In a 3-0 ruling, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court … Continue reading →

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Seattle Children’s Hospital sues Texas Attorney General over trans patient records

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Seattle Children’s Hospital has sued the Texas Office of the Attorney General to block the release of patient information after the agency sent the Washington-based health care system an investigative subpoena demanding … Continue reading →

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Paxton and aides ordered to sit for depositions on whistleblower trial

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A Travis County district judge has ordered Attorney General Ken Paxton and three top aides to sit for depositions in the 3-year-old whistleblower lawsuit against him. At a hearing Wednesday in Austin, Judge Jan Soifer granted the whistleblowers’ motion … Continue reading →

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DOJ sues Colony Ridge developers

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Major plot twist. The federal government is suing Colony Ridge, accusing the Houston-area developer of using fraudulent lending practices targeting tens of thousands of Latino buyers with false statements and predatory loans in rural Liberty County. The U.S. Department of … Continue reading →

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Another complaint filed over SpaceX launches in South Texas

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Have at it. Several organizations have filed a new complaint about the environmental impacts of SpaceX Starship launches even as government agencies face criticism for delaying such launches for environmental reviews. Several environmental groups announced Dec. 15 that they had … Continue reading →

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ACLU and immigrants rights groups sue over our latest legislative atrocity

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. Immigrant rights organizations have sued Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott approved one of the strictest state immigration enforcement laws, which authorizes police to arrest immigrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. In their lawsuit, the American Civil … Continue reading →

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The Texas Medical Board can’t do anything about abortion

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sorry, but this is a complete waste of time, and everybody involved knows it. In its ruling this week denying a Dallas woman’s petition for an emergency abortion, the Texas Supreme Court said it was the responsibility of physicians … Continue reading →

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Title IX complaint filed against Katy ISD

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but more will be needed. A student activist group has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against Katy ISD, claiming that the district’s gender fluidity policy is discriminatory. The policy, approved by the school board … Continue reading →

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