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Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Appellate

SCOTX Again Stays Case Involving Attorney’s Sex Tape, Child Porn Concerns

The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday entered a stay for the second time in a case that involves the intersection of rules governing civil discovery and federal laws regarding the dissemination of child pornography. In January, the court lifted its first stay in the case and in a 5-4 decision denied Magdoline Elhindi’s petition for writ of mandamus. Tuesday’s stay came amid consideration of Elhindi’s motion for rehearing, which remains pending.

Michelle Casady

Landfill’s Lowered Property Valuation Considered by SCOTX

A unique site with exotic wildlife and an event center, the Texas Disposal Systems landfill near Austin is also a dump, its lawyer argues. The landfill is fighting to uphold a 2019 appraisal review board decision that lowered its valuation from $21.7 million to $2.8 million as part of an equal and uniform tax protest. Travis Central Appraisal District says a district court should review the landfill’s fair market value because of a lack of comparable properties.

Janet Elliott

How the Changing Law of Chevron Deference Might Affect Texas

In January the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two matters that could significantly change how federal courts are to review decisions made by federal agencies. Chevron deference has often allowed federal agencies to “fill gaps” and implement policy decisions where the statute may not be express. However, the issues before the Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises and Relentless, Inc. call the doctrine’s viability into question.     

David Terry & Matthew Leopold

Appellate Panel Asked to Halt March 5 Appellate Court Primary

During oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the configuration of Texas’ intermediate appellate court districts, the panel was asked to halt the March 5 primary election for the intermediate courts of appeals. The lawsuit brought by Keresa Richardson seeks to have the courts redraw the districts to address malapportionment. Richardson previously sought to have all members of the Dallas appellate court recuse themselves (two obliged) from hearing the case arguing they all have a conflict of interest “derived from the fact that this case will affect their elected status, their voting districts, and their future elected status, and thus they are all personally interested in the relief being requested and should not be the arbiters of the issues.”

Michelle Casady

Power Trader Brings Legal Challenge to PUCT’s Creation of Contingency Reserve Service

Aspire Power Ventures filed a direct appeal with the Third Court of Appeals in Austin on Tuesday, challenging three orders issued by the Public Utility Commission of Texas that created and modified a program to provide reserve power in emergency situations. While the stated goal of the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service is to prevent grid issues like what the state experienced during Winter Storm Uri, Aspire alleges it instead “does nothing to increase actual electricity reserve capacity — in fact, it actually decreases capacity when it is most needed.”

Michelle Casady

State Bar Releases Judicial Election Poll Results

The State Bar of Texas recently released the results of a straw poll it conducts every election cycle that asks its members to cast a ballot for the judge or justice of their choice for the various contested races across the state. Here, The Lawbook takes a look at the 2024 results for Texas Supreme Court races, but also compares the results of the 2022 and 2020 straw polls with the results of the general election in an attempt to offer insight into how often the voting members of the bar aligned with the Texas voting public at large.

Michelle Casady

Fifth Circuit Panel Hears Round 2 Challenge to SEC’s ‘No Admit, No Deny’ Policy

Christopher Novinger, of Mansfield, was before the Fifth Circuit for the second time on Thursday morning seeking relief from a “no admit, no deny” provision in a 2016 settlement agreement he entered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In July 2022 a different panel of that court rejected his attempt to free himself from the gag order provision via a Rule 60(b) motion that argued the “no deny” portion of the policy violated his First Amendment and due process rights.

Michelle Casady

SCOTX Answers Fifth Circuit’s Prompt Payment Question in Favor of Insurer

The court heard oral arguments in October in Rodriguez v. Safeco Insurance Company, a case that that asked the court to interpret a state insurance law as it related to recovery of attorney fees. “Rather than speculate about whether the Legislature intended recovery of attorney’s fees to be likely, unlikely, or impossible, we should instead stick with the bedrock principle that the Legislature intends the courts to follow its instructions as written,” Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote for the unanimous court. “In this instance, the Legislature has required the use of a mathematical formula that yields zero attorney’s fees in cases like Rodriguez’s.”

Michelle Casady

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