Best mugshot ever
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the state’s highest criminal court to reconsider a recent decision that stripped his agency of the power to prosecute election law violations.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in an 8-1 ruling issued Dec. 15, struck down the state law that gave the attorney general’s office the authority to pursue criminal violations of the Election Code.
That 1985 law, the all-Republican court determined, violated the Texas Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine by granting Paxton’s executive branch office the prosecution authority that is reserved for district and county attorneys, who are members of the judicial branch.
Paxton, in a motion for rehearing filed electronically Sunday, asked the appeals court to reconsider, arguing that the ruling improperly stepped on the Legislature’s ability to delegate power to his agency.
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In its December ruling, the Court of Criminal Appeals said the Texas Constitution gives district and county attorneys the power to prosecute criminal law violations, with the ability to seek help from Paxton’s agency if needed.
On the other hand, the court ruled, the constitution limits the attorney general’s powers to inquiring into charter rights of private corporations, suing in state court to prevent private corporations from exercising unlawful powers, seeking judicial forfeiture of charters, and providing legal advice to the governor and other executive officers.
“Notably absent from these enumerations is a specific grant of authority to the Attorney General concerning the prosecution of criminal proceedings,” said the ruling, written by Judge Jesse McClure III.
“In the Texas Constitution, the Attorney General can prosecute with the permission of the local prosecutor but cannot initiate prosecution unilaterally,” McClure wrote.
Paxton said the ruling upends about 70 years of practice and jeopardizes the prosecution of election law violations by leaving it to local prosecutors — including some who, he said, can’t be trusted with the job.
“Last year’s election cycle shows us that officials in our most problematic counties will simply let election fraud run rampant. I will continue to oppose this decision that diminishes our democracy and misconstrues the Texas Constitution,” he said.
See here for the background. We all know what it is that Paxton wants to do, and I’m sure the CCA is aware as well. Their ruling was clear and it wasn’t close, and given Paxton’s plainly stated motivations, the only possible explanation for a reversal at this point – again, a reversal of their own 8-1 ruling, handed down less than a month ago – would be pure partisan politics. Is the CCA able to withstand that kind of pressure? I sure hope so.