From HOUEquality, on May 13:
Today the 14th Court of Appeals denied HERO opponents’ request to force a trial in less than 30 days. The trial will proceed, but at a regular pace. This is another setback for opponents, but the case will still be heard by the Court of Appeals.
HERO opponents filed their request for an expedited appeal on April 30, nearly two weeks after the city prevailed in district court. I don’t know about you, but I think if part of my argument was that my case would somehow become moot if the appeals process took too long, I’d file that appeal a bit more quickly. The city responded on May 7, arguing that the plaintffs’ request was “unnecessary, unreasonable, and unfair”, and as you can see in the very brief ruling, the appeals court agreed. I don’t know what the appeals schedule will be, but I do know that unless there’s a ruling in place by about mid-August ordering a repeal referendum, there ain’t gonna be one this year. One hopes there will never be one, but this year is increasingly unlikely.
Oh, and it might help the plaintiffs’ case if they actually paid the appellate filing fee. I mean, it would be fine by me if they didn’t, as that will lead to a dismissal of their case. But if they do want their case to go forward, in however timely a fashion, this is a detail they might want to tend to. Just FYI.