The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
San Jacinto County Judge John Lovett Jr. was suspended indefinitely by the state's judicial conduct commission after being indicted on three criminal charges. It looks like his alleged crimes may all have been for the sake of open government. Full Story
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The state has given Travis County nearly $2 million to reform its indigent defense system. But a handful of Austin-area lawyers are still taking on far more cases than experts believe anyone could handle. Full Story
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Andrew Oldham, a nominee for an influential federal appeals court, asserted during a U.S. Senate committee hearing Wednesday that the positions he took on behalf of Texas would not influence his work as a judge. Full Story
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U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled Tuesday that the administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was never fully explained and could not be justified. However, Bates did allow for a 90-day hold on his ruling “to afford [the Department of Homeland Security] an opportunity to better explain its view that DACA is unlawful.” Full Story
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As the U.S. Supreme Court took up Texas' redistricting case, several justices questioned whether they even had the authority to pick up where a lower court left off. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a Texas redistricting case that has flagged two congressional districts and nine Texas House districts. Here's a closer look at one of the districts in question: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's curiously shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
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Two congressional districts are part of a Texas redistricting case the U.S. Supreme Court will take up Tuesday. Here's a detailed look at what's at issue in one of them: the 27th Congressional District. Full Story
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A nonbinding opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Ken Paxton continues a battle between lawmakers, restaurants and the Texas Department of Agriculture over the regulation of scales used to measure food. Full Story
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Republicans said the Democratic county chair never signed the candidates' ballot applications. Democrats called the suit a frivolous partisan attack. Full Story
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The Tyler-based 12th Court of Appeals also said the law is overly broad. The case is now likely headed to the state's highest criminal court. Full Story
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This time, the fight is happening in the courts after attempts to overturn short-term rental ordinances failed in the Legislature. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Patrick, Alexa about the Supreme Court-bound Texas redistricting case, Ted Cruz's latest fundraising numbers and former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman's criminal conviction. Democratic congressional candidate Rick Trevino joins the conversation. Full Story
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Less than 30 percent of immigrants facing deportation proceedings in Texas have lawyers, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Full Story
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A federal jury in Houston has ruled that Steve Stockman, a conservative Republican, is guilty of all but one charge in his federal fraud trial. Full Story
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Stockman, a Republican who represented the Houston suburbs twice in the U.S. House before losing a longshot bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014, is accused of funneling more than $1 million of charitable donations toward personal and campaign expenses. Full Story
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Defense lawyers, legal groups and former federal judges also point to cases of people taken off death row as they oppose the state's push for faster federal death penalty appeals. Full Story
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The court found that the woman who sued didn't prove that the female coworker who harassed her was gay, so it's not clear that the incident constituted "sexually motivated touching." Full Story
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The U.S. Department of Justice's directive tells federal prosecutors on the southwest border to prosecute all Department of Homeland Security referrals for alleged violations of federal immigration illegal-entry laws. Full Story
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A mandate handed down by the Trump administration designed to speed up activity within the country’s clogged immigration court system could actually have the opposite effect, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges said Wednesday. Full Story
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The chairman of the House Business & Industry Committee said he was "stunned" to learn there is an obscure law that makes it easy for rent-to-own companies to file criminal charges against customers who fall behind on payments. The committee is looking at changing the law after a joint investigation by The Texas Tribune and NerdWallet. Full Story
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