Tag Archives: First Court of Appeals

Judicial Q&A: Jim Peacock

(Note: I ran a series of judicial Q&As for Democratic candidates in contested primaries earlier this year. I am now doing the same for the candidates who were unopposed in March, which includes most of the sitting incumbent judges. As … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Endorsement watch: More courts

The Chron has a bunch of judicial race endorsements to make, beginning with the First and 14th Courts of Appeals. 1st Court of Appeals, Chief Justice: Sherry Radack Both Republican incumbent Sherry Radack and challenger Jim Peacock strongly agree that … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: More courts

Appeals Court judge Terry Jennings switches parties

Cool. It was just after presiding over a same-sex wedding, in January, that the formerly Republican Justice Terry Jennings, of the Texas First Court of Appeals, started thinking more seriously about changing his party affiliation. Jennings had been considering becoming … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What it will take to win the District Court of Appeals benches

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that one place on the local ballot where Democrats could potentially gain some real ground is with the district Courts of Appeals. There are no competitive Congressional or State Senate races, the one competitive … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Another view of Democratic goals for 2016

Sounds about right. Some Democrats say Clinton has a chance at winning a majority in Texas, where interest is heightened because U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro has been mentioned as a possible Clinton running mate. Castro said … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another view of Democratic goals for 2016

Filing deadline highlights

I’m taking a look at interesting bits from the state and Harris County Democratic Party filings. You can see the latter here; there isn’t a page dedicated to this on the TDP webpage (why?) but via this press release we … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Supreme Court requires HERO ballot language change

Whatever. The Texas Supreme Court has again overruled Mayor Annise Parker’s administration in connection with the legal fight over her signature nondiscrimination ordinance, ruling Wednesday that the mayor and City Council erred in choosing the language that will appear on … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Crusading against court fees

This is important work. Houston attorney Jani Maselli Wood scanned the itemized list of “court costs” that people pay when they get in trouble with Texas law to see how much her indigent client owed even while sitting in a … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Appeals court reverses ruling about pension retiree information

So much for that. A state district court’s 2013 ruling that Houston’s fire pension board must turn over detailed information on its retirees to help city officials better project future pension bills has been overturned on appeal. Justices with the … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Appeals court revives MBIA lawsuit against Sports Authority

Here we go again. A lawsuit against the agency that pays the debt on Houston’s sports stadiums is back on following an appeals court ruling. Last April, a state district court judge ruled that a bond insurer could not sue … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Appeals court revives MBIA lawsuit against Sports Authority

MBIA appeals lawsuit dismissal

Here’s the brief that MBIA has filed with the First District Court of Appeals to overturn the dismissal of their lawsuit against the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation. The issues presented for review … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on MBIA appeals lawsuit dismissal

Sanchez ends his Senate campaign

This news broke late Friday. Leading Democratic U.S. senatorial candidate Ricardo Sanchez announced Friday that he’s ending his campaign to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. In a statement issued by his campaign to supporters, Sanchez said anemic fundraising and … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Endorsement watch: Appeals courts

I’ve regularly ragged on the Chron for their, um, casual attitude of late for getting endorsements done in a timely manner, so I must commend them for getting such an early start this year. They’ve covered the Governor and Railroad … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: Appeals courts

Another appeals court case to be proud of

By “proud”, I mean “deeply embarrassed”. Here’s Rick Casey discussing a decision by the 1st Court of Appeals in which the infamous case of death row inmate Calvin Burdine and his sleeping lawyer, Joe Cannon is referenced, and not in … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another appeals court case to be proud of

One more judicial race

This was mentioned as a sidebar to a story about Governor Perry signing a bill, but I think it deserves more than that. There’s a new justice on the First Court of Appeals, which means there will be one more … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on One more judicial race

Jim Sharp investiture

Jim Sharp, who was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November, has asked me to pass along an invitation to his investiture, which will be held this Thursday, February 12, at 4 PM in the Gerald Treece Courthouse … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Jim Sharp investiture