Tag Archives: ACLU of Texas

First hearing for mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully we’ll get some action quickly. Lawyers for voters and voting rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent order limiting counties to one location where voters can hand-deliver mail-in ballots. Abbott waited too long … Continue reading →

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Where are we with the lawsuit to stop Harris County from sending out vote by mail applications?

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks for asking, we had the hearing in district court yesterday. Voting in person will be safe across Texas in this fall’s general election despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the state’s elections director asserted in a Harris County courtroom Wednesday … Continue reading →

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Introducing the George Floyd Act

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Coming this spring to the Legislature. Black lawmakers at the Texas Legislature unveiled on Thursday the George Floyd Act, a sweeping police reform proposal that would ban chokeholds across the state and require law enforcement officers to intervene or render … Continue reading →

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Pro-choice groups sue that “abortion sanctuary cities” guy

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Three abortion support organizations – The Lilith Fund, the Texas Equal Access Fund, and The Afiya Center – are hitting back at anti-choice activist Mark Lee Dickson and the group he leads, Right to Life East Texas. Those two … Continue reading →

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The current status on local police reform efforts

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the budget amendment process didn’t do much. City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $5.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, slightly increasing funds for the Houston Police Department even as some cities are under pressure … Continue reading →

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Paxton threatens county clerks over vote by mail instructions

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems to me this should get a bit more attention. Attorney General Ken Paxton informed county judges and election officials Friday that if they advise voters who normally aren’t eligible to apply for mail-in ballots due to a fear of … Continue reading →

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TDP gets initial win in vote by mail lawsuit

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a good start, but we’ve got a long way to go. A state district judge on Wednesday said he will move forward with an order easing restrictions for voting by mail in Texas in light of the new coronavirus … Continue reading →

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Another view of the lawsuit over expanded voting by mail

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Ian Millhiser at Vox, who is decidedly more pessimistic about the plaintiffs’ chances. He starts by noting how restrictive Texas’ existing vote-by-mail law is. The law only allows Texas voters to obtain an absentee ballot under a very limited … Continue reading →

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Abbott’s stay-in-jail order blocked and then unblocked

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This was Friday. A state district judge in Travis County has temporarily blocked enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to limit jail releases during the new coronavirus pandemic. She cited unconstitutional provisions and overreach of executive power in the gubernatorial … Continue reading →

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Another lawsuit filed over Abbott’s stay-in-jail order

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no slowdown in the litigation business, that’s for sure. Gov. Greg Abbott’s order restricting the release of some jail inmates during the new coronavirus pandemic is facing a second court challenge arguing his order violates the constitutional separation of … Continue reading →

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Intervening in the mail ballot expansion lawsuit

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The ACLU of Texas, American Civil Liberties Union, and Texas Civil Rights Project on Wednesday joined a case seeking to declare that under Texas law all registered voters qualify to request a mail-in ballot as a result … Continue reading →

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More on Abbott’s stay-in-jail order

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s that more detailed Chron story I referenced yesterday. I’m just going to quote the newer information about Greg Abbott’s executive order that attempts to basically stop most releases of inmates from the jail regardless of the coronavirus situation. The … Continue reading →

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Abbott delays primary runoffs

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So this was originally going to be a post about what various groups have been advocating for the primary runoffs. And then Greg Abbott went and pushed the runoffs back to July without addressing any of the other concerns that … Continue reading →

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ACLU sues the “abortion sanctuary cities”

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This was expected. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against seven Texas cities on Tuesday for passing ordinances that aim to ban abortion by outlawing providers and advocates from doing business in their towns. The suit, brought by the ACLU of … Continue reading →

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Appealing the Crystal Mason illegal voting conviction

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This continues to be an appalling travesty. When Crystal Mason got out of federal prison, she said, she “got out running.” By Nov. 8, 2016, when she’d been out for months but was still on supervised release, she was working … Continue reading →

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

Galveston ordered to provide counsel at bail hearings

Posted on September 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sure seems like the proper thing to do. Add Galveston to the list of Texas counties that have been court ordered to change their bail practices. A federal district judge on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction in a 2018 lawsuit … Continue reading →

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Anti-Israel boycott law amended

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

For whatever this is worth. Gov. Greg Abbott this week signed a bill into law that limits the scope of a controversial anti-Israel boycott law, just weeks after a federal judge temporarily blocked its enforcement in an ongoing First Amendment … Continue reading →

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Settlement officially reached in lawsuits over bogus SOS advisory

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Great news. Three months after first questioning the citizenship status of almost 100,000 registered voters, the Texas secretary of state has agreed to end a review of the voter rolls for supposed noncitizens that was flawed from the start. The … Continue reading →

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Injunction granted against Texas anti-Israel boycott law

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: A federal court today ruled that a Texas law that requires government contractors to certify that they are not engaged in boycotts of Israel or companies that do business with Israel is unconstitutional. The judge ruled that … Continue reading →

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LULAC settles its SOS lawsuit

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The state of Texas is ending a program to purge voters it claimed were noncitizens in order to settle lawsuits brought by civil rights groups over the plan. The deal was reached following a meeting Monday in San … Continue reading →

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Judge blocks any voter purges from the SOS advisory

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Let’s hope this lasts. In a major victory for voting rights groups, a federal judge has ordered that no Texas county should purge suspected noncitizen voters from the rolls or issue letters demanding that they prove their citizenship “without … Continue reading →

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Three times a lawsuit

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hat trick! A group of civil and voting rights organizations is suing the state’s chief election officers and local election officials in five counties, claiming Texas’ voter citizenship review efforts are unconstitutional because they intentionally target naturalized citizens and voters … Continue reading →

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As the SOS advisory numbers get revised down

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This really can’t be emphasized enough. State officials on Tuesday acknowledged widespread errors in their list of 95,000 Texas voters flagged as potential non-citizens, reinforcing the concerns of advocates who say the state’s effort amounts to illegal voter suppression. In … Continue reading →

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A trio of updates about that bogus SOS letter

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Most counties reacted skeptically, as well they should. The Texas Tribune reached out to 13 of the 15 counties with the most registered voters on Monday; Galveston was the only one that indicated it would immediately send out letters, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Civil rights groups push back on bogus SOS letter

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Lawyers with 13 organizations — including the Texas Civil Rights Project, the ACLU of Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund — are demanding that the state rescind an advisory sent to … Continue reading →

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Bail lawsuit continues in Galveston County

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A lawsuit alleging that Galveston County’s cash bail system favors wealthier defendants will continue after a recent ruling by a U.S. district court judge. On Jan. 10, Judge George Hanks Jr. upheld Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison’s denial of the … Continue reading →

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ACLU reminds counties to provide voting materials in Spanish

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: With weeks to go before the November 6 election, the ACLU of Texas has sent advisal letters to 36 counties across Texas that may be in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The letters urge the identified … Continue reading →

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Dallas County gets the Harris County treatment in its bail lawsuit

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We have a precedent, even if everything is still a work in progress. Taking a cue from the rulings on Harris County’s bail-setting practices, a U.S. district judge in Dallas issued a temporary order Thursday evening saying the county’s post-arrest … Continue reading →

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ACLU sues Galveston County over bail practices

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The ACLU of Texas, the ACLU and Arnold & Porter filed a federal class-action lawsuit today against Galveston County, Texas, for violating the constitutional rights of people arrested for misdemeanors and felonies. The lawsuit was brought against … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit lets most of SB4 remain in place

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. A panel of three U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled Tuesday that most of the state’s immigration enforcement legislation, Senate Bill 4, can remain in effect while the case plays out, handing a victory to Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

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ACLU goes after Judge McSpadden

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

As well they should. The ACLU of Texas is asking Harris County’s longest serving felony court judge to resign after making a statement to the Houston Chronicle on his views about black men’s attitudes toward the criminal justice system. The … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Dallas County bail practices

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it on, I say. On the heels of a federal ruling slamming Harris County for its bail practices, civil rights lawyers have now set their sights on a county with a similar system: Dallas. Six indigent misdemeanor and felony … Continue reading →

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The First Amendment remains in effect in Fort Bend

Posted on November 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

For now, at least. Karen Fonseca, the owner of a white truck at the center of a social media dispute with Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, is considering a civil rights lawsuit against the sheriff’s office. Fonseca’s attorney, Brian … Continue reading →

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Federal court bars enforcement if city’s ban on homeless encampments

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for the law’s opponents. A federal court on Tuesday temporarily blocked Houston from enforcing its fledgling ban on public encampments, dealing a blow to city efforts to manage escalating tensions between homeless people and the neighborhoods their camps … Continue reading →

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