In a case with potentially vast implications for groundwater rules, the court has unanimously ruled in favor of two farmers in the San Antonio area who challenged a local aquifer authority’s restrictions on their well use.
Texas Supreme Court
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Pipeline Companies Fighting for Property Rights
The Texas Supreme Court could decide by this week whether it erred in allowing pipeline companies to force their way onto private land. As Dave Fehling of StateImpact Texas reports, the legal wrangling comes as drilling in the state is surging.
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Criminal Justice
Consumer Group: High Court Favors Businesses
A report out today from the consumer advocacy group Texas Watch blasts the Texas Supreme Court for a decade of decisions that favor corporate interests and benefit the rich at the expense of consumers.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Supreme Court Moves Forward to Create Divorce Forms
Despite the State Bar of Texas’ suggestion to hold off on creating simple divorce forms, the Texas Supreme Court has decided not to halt the work of task force charged with creating forms that improve access to the courts for the poor.
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Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear “Pole Tax” Case
Nearly five years into a legal battle over the constitutionality of Texas’ $5-per-patron strip club fee, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to take up the adult entertainment industry’s case against the state.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Lawyers Divided Over Divorce Forms
The Texas Supreme Court is preparing to help out poor Texas couples who want to split up with a simple divorce form. But some family lawyers say breaking up is much harder to do.
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Criminal Justice
Court: Business Franchise Tax Isn’t an Income Tax
The Texas Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the state’s primary business tax, saying it doesn’t violate a constitutional ban on personal income taxes.
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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.
