Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first state official known to be infected with the novel coronavirus. Justice Lehrmann confirmed the diagnosis in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
In a case closely monitored by oil and gas interests, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that contract clauses designed to perpetuate royalty interests from lease-to-lease can violate the rule against perpetuities. But the outcome of the case itself is less explicit, as Janet Elliott, who has been following the case, explains.
The City of Fort Worth's decades-old struggle with the "fuzzy animal" exception to state gaming laws entered a new phase Friday when a unanimous Texas Supreme Court sent its case back to the Second Court of Appeals. The state's highest court asked the lower court to make the constitutionality of Fort Worth game rooms less...well, fuzzy. Janet Elliott explains.
The custody dispute was closely watched for its potential implications to allow challenges to other final custody rulings. It also attracted attention for the lineup of high-powered legal talent involved in the appeal. Janet Elliott has the details.
UPDATED: The Texas Office of Court Administration has announced that the website that serves the Texas judiciary has been the victim of a ransomware attack. Updated to include comments to The Lawbook by Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.
The Dallas to Houston high-speed rail project won a key legal battle Thursday. Up next? Potentially the Texas Supreme Court.
Four prominent trial organizations representing more than 10,000 lawyers in Texas filed a brief Friday asking the Texas Supreme Court to reverse an opinion it issued two weeks ago that tossed out sanctions against Dallas lawyer Bill Brewer for allegedly trying to taint the jury pool in one of his cases. “This opinion appears to set a new and disturbing standard," the brief states.
Texas-born Mithun Mansinghani will be making his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court next week as Oklahoma's Solicitor General. Since the case will be argued via teleconference he won't actually be appearing, but that doesn't make the case any less important, or the pressure any less intense. Tony Mauro profiles Mansinghani and what's at stake in the case.
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