Tag Archives: Justice Department

The entire law enforcement response in Uvalde is messed up

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What is going on here? The official response to the mass shooting at an Uvalde elementary school — a response already marred by shifting narratives, finger-pointing and a general lack of timely and accurate information — took a further turn … Continue reading →

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Justice Department to review what happened with Uvalde police

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. The U.S. Department of Justice will review the law enforcement’s response to the Uvalde school massacre as local police face intense scrutiny for not acting quickly enough to confront the shooter. “The goal of the review is to provide … Continue reading →

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Is there any chance the GLO won’t screw Houston this time around?

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, maybe. Things can happen. I just wouldn’t count on it. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday commended the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for ordering Texas to fix a Hurricane Harvey recovery plan that the federal agency … Continue reading →

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GLO prepares to screw Houston again on Harvey recovery funds

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gird yourselves. Of the more than 300,000 homes in Texas damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, none were in Coryell County. Located 220 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, this small agricultural county was not the place Congress had in … Continue reading →

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Federal lawsuit filed over Abbott’s border arrest fiasco

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Meant to post this last week. Three private defense attorneys, representing 15 migrant men arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border operation, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end the governor’s policy of arresting migrants on criminal trespass charges, which … Continue reading →

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Biden administration to appeal airplane mask mandate order

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Tuesday it would appeal a judge’s ruling ending a mask mandate on airplanes if public health officials deem it necessary to stem the spread of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and … Continue reading →

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Second lawsuit filed over Galveston redistricting

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Similar grounds, different plaintiffs. A coalition of civil rights groups in Texas filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Galveston County, alleging that the county’s redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against a growing minority population in the Gulf Coast community. The complaint, … Continue reading →

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Feds warn about lawsuits to come over anti-trans legislation

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. The Department of Justice is warning states like Texas that policies meant to block transgender children from receiving gender-affirming care violate their constitutional rights. “Intentionally erecting discriminatory barriers to prevent individuals from receiving gender-affirming care implicates a number … Continue reading →

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The dark side of redistricting litigation

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas is taking a big swing in defense of its gerrymanders, and if they connect it’s going to be devastating. Beyond the immediate legal fight over whether Texas lawmakers again discriminated against voters of color when drawing … Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues over Galveston County Commissioners Court map

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but remember how the federal courts are these days before getting too optimistic. The Department of Justice on Thursday sued Galveston County over its new redistricting map, accusing Republican county officials of violating the Voting Rights Act last year … Continue reading →

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HUD approves updated GLO proposal for Harris County

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting, but there are still a lot of moving pieces out there. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday said it would accept the Texas General Land Office’s proposal to give Harris County $750 million in federal … Continue reading →

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SCOTx puts the last nail in the federal lawsuit against SB8

Posted on March 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The fix was in from the beginning. The Texas Supreme Court dealt a final blow to abortion providers’ federal challenge to the state’s latest abortion restrictions Friday. The court ruled that state medical licensing officials do not have authority to … Continue reading →

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SB8 lawsuit moves to SCOTx

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Like I said, the fix was always in. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday sent the legal challenge to Texas’ restrictive abortion law to the state’s Supreme Court, a move that is expected to significantly delay the … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit gets set to put the final nail in SB8 legal challenges

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The fix was always in. In a contentious hearing Friday, a federal appeals court indicated it is likely to send Texas’ restrictive abortion law to the state supreme court, a move that could add months or longer before the case … Continue reading →

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SB8 plaintiffs want their lawsuit moved back to district court

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

As is usually the case, the lawless Fifth Circuit is the problem, with a generous assist from SCOTUS. With the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set to hear arguments about Texas’ restrictive new abortion law Friday, abortion providers have … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS finds another way to screw abortion rights

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Surely you’re not surprised. The Supreme Court has formally returned a lawsuit over Texas’ six-week abortion ban to a federal appeals court that has twice allowed the law to stay in effect, rather than to a district judge who sought … Continue reading →

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Come watch Ken Paxton light your tax dollars on fire

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, Theranos would have delivered a greater return on investment than this. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has been one of former President Donald Trump’s most reliable allies in spreading the myth of widespread voter fraud, particularly in … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS allows providers’ lawsuit against SB8 to proceed

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a lot to unpack here. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the legal challenge brought forward by abortion providers against Texas’ abortion restriction law may continue, bringing new life into what has become the most significant effort … Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues Texas over redistricting maps

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Add it to the queue. The Department of Justice is suing Texas over its new redistricting maps, alleging that lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and Black voters while redrawing the state’s political districts this year. The lawsuit, filed in federal … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit puts school mask order on hold

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This effing court. A federal appeals court has reinstated Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates as it weighs a federal judge’s ruling that the ban violates the rights of disabled students. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel previously ruled … Continue reading →

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Still waiting on SCOTUS

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They’re in no rush. More than two weeks have passed since the Supreme Court’s extraordinarily rushed arguments over Texas’ unique abortion law without any word from the justices. They raised expectations of quick action by putting the case on a … Continue reading →

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Federal judge blocks Abbott’s ban on school mask mandates

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent news. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting mask mandates in schools violates the Americans with Disabilities Act — freeing local officials to again create their own rules. The order comes after a monthslong … Continue reading →

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Justice Department sues Texas over the voter suppression law

Posted on November 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Specifically, they are challenging a couple of specific provisions of the law. The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued Texas over its new voting law, expanding its effort to challenge Republican-backed measures passed in state legislatures. The lawsuit, brought by … Continue reading →

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SB8’s day before SCOTUS

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The good guys appear to have the upper hand in this case. It seems unlikely that will last for very long, however. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday grilled attorneys for abortion providers, the federal government and Texas over the … Continue reading →

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The SCOTUS hearing on SB8 is today

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I have no idea what to expect. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up on Monday the highest-profile legal challenges to Texas’ new abortion law. The Supreme Court previously declined to act on the near-total abortion ban, making next week’s … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS will hear SB8 appeals

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Both of them, on November 1. The law remains annoyingly in effect until then. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to fast-track two Texas cases involving the state’s near-total ban on abortion, but refused to halt the law from being … Continue reading →

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Texas takes its shot at Roe v Wade

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We were always headed in this direction. It was just a matter of when we were going to get there. Texas on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place a law that imposes a near-total ban on … Continue reading →

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Justice Department officially asks SCOTUS to halt SB8

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The stakes are clear. Now we get to see if SCOTUS has any respect for the law. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up abortion providers’ challenge to Texas’ near-total abortion ban sooner than the high court … Continue reading →

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Justice Department goes to SCOTUS over SB8

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. The Biden administration will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop enforcement of Texas’ near-total abortion ban, according to a Friday statement from a U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson. Courts have pingponged back and forth on the law’s … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit does the expected with the SB8 appeal

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Was it ever in doubt? Texas’ near-total abortion ban can continue to be enforced while the law’s constitutionality is decided, a panel of federal appellate judges ordered late Thursday. The three justices of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals … Continue reading →

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Justice Department files its brief with the Fifth Circuit

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck. They’re going to need a lot of it. The Biden administration urged the courts again to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions since early September, as clinics hundreds of miles away remain … Continue reading →

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Federal lawsuit over mask mandate ban in schools has its hearing

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

A big case with potential national implications. School district leaders should have the right to make decisions about mask mandates based on the needs of their students and local coronavirus spread data, attorneys argued Wednesday in federal court. Lawyers with … Continue reading →

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We wait until at least Tuesday for a chance at justice with SB8

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

In case you missed it. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday temporarily allowed Texas’ near-total abortion ban — the strictest in the nation — to again be enforced after freezing a federal judge’s temporary block of the … Continue reading →

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State appeals SB8 restraining order to Fifth Circuit

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure they expect the usual room service from the appeals court. It’s just a matter of how quickly they can get it. Texas asked a federal appeals court Friday to step in “as soon as possible” to restore the … Continue reading →

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