Hey, Texplainer: What will happen to Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams now that the video of him beating his then 16-year-old daughter has gone viral?
Judiciary of Texas
Posted in
Health care
Lawsuit Gives Cover to Texas Lawmakers
Judges have been telling legislators what to do since we set up government to replace knife fights and bar brawls. And legislators use the courts to make them do unpopular but necessary things that voters don’t like. School finance, for instance.
Posted in
State Government
Weekend Insider: Courts Legislate Lawmakers, GOP Who Don’t Support Perry
In this edition of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, executive editor Ross Ramsey explains how courts legislate for state lawmakers, and deputy editor Emily Ramshaw describes the risks Texas Republicans face when they don’t support Rick Perry for president.
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Public Education
Schools and Taxes: The Next Big Thing
The primary elections come in less than five months. The general election is about a year away. When that’s all out of the way, we’ll all be talking about lawsuits — some that have been filed, some that will be filed later — on school finance and franchise taxes.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Updated: Morton Lawyers: Former DAs’ Claims “Wholly Deficient”
Michael Morton’s legal team responded today to claims from the exonerated man’s original prosecutors that they cannot be forced to testify as part of an inquiry into how Morton was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife.
Posted in
Congress
Texas Legal Group Urges More Judicial Appointments
A nonpartisan group of Texas lawyers, law professors and other legal advocates today called on the U.S. Senate to quickly fill judicial vacancies that are slowing down the justice system in Texas and nationwide.
Posted in
Health care
Something to Talk About
Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott may well use a court ruling against the abortion sonogram law to their political advantage — to lure anti-abortion voters to the polls, and fuel their fire against so-called “activist” judges.
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Criminal Justice
31 Days, 31 Ways: Tort Reform Bill Gives Texas High Court New Powers
DAY 28 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Under a new tort reform law, the Texas Supreme Court will make rules to expedite certain lawsuits and to allow judges to dismiss meritless ones early on.
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Criminal Justice
High Court Approves “Pole Tax” on Strip Clubs
The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a $5-per-patron tax on strips clubs does not violate the First Amendment, adding the latest chapter to a four-year legal battle.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Despite Questions of Bias, Williamson County DA Will Stay on Morton Case
A state judge has declined to remove District Attorney John Bradley from continuing to investigate the case of Michael Morton, whose 1987 murder conviction has been called into question by new DNA evidence suggesting someone else killed his wife.
