Nearly nine years after his indictment on charges of felony security fraud, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, reached a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday to avoid a criminal trial that had been set to begin next month. The deal, announced by the prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Paxton during a hearing in Houston, does […]
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Texas Immigration Law: Here’s the Latest on SB4
A panel of three federal appeals court judges heard arguments on Wednesday in a bitter legal fight between Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration over Texas’ new migrant arrest law, punctuating a dizzying series of legal developments over the previous 24 hours that left migrants and many law enforcement officials in Texas confused and […]
Read MoreSupreme Court Stays Out of Dispute Over Drag Show at Texas University
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from an L.G.B.T.Q. student group at a public university in Texas to let it put on a drag show on campus over the objections of the university’s president, who had refused to allow it. In an emergency application, the students said the president’s action violated the First […]
Read MoreJudge Upholds Biden Program Giving Some Immigrants Short-Term Legal Status
A federal judge on Friday allowed the Biden administration to keep in place a program that officials have used to give temporary legal status to some citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The decision is a notable victory for the White House, which has faced criticism on immigration policy and has used the temporary […]
Read MoreTakeaways From the Texas Primary: Ken Paxton Ousts Some of His Enemies
The primary election in Texas on Tuesday was among the most expensive and hard-fought in state history, as factions of the Republican Party battled for control. It was in large part a referendum on the fate of moderate Republicans in the Texas House, which impeached the Republican attorney general and blocked some hard-right priorities last […]
Read MoreTexas Judge Blocks Paxton’s Request for Transgender Minors’ Records
A judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Texas attorney general from forcing an L.G.B.T.Q. organization to turn over documents on transgender minors and the gender-affirming care they may be receiving. In Texas, medical care for gender transition is prohibited for minors under a law passed last year.. As part of an investigation into violations of […]
Read MoreIn Texas Primary, a Brawl Among Republicans for Party Control
Rarely have intraparty battles between Republicans in Texas been as bitter, protracted and consequential as the primary contests culminating in Election Day on Tuesday. The fights have primarily focused on members of the Texas House who angered many conservative voters last year by impeaching the Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, on charges of corruption and […]
Read MoreBlack Student’s Suspension Over Hairstyle Didn’t Violate Law, Texas Judge Rules
A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that a school district’s dress code, which it used to suspend a Black student last year for refusing to change the way he wears his hair, did not violate a state law meant to prohibit race-based discrimination against people based on their hairstyle. The student, Darryl George, 18, has […]
Read MoreThe Texas Border War and the Battle Within the Supreme Court
Most people know by now about the border war between Texas and the United States playing out along the banks of the Rio Grande. Less obvious, but no less consequential, is an emerging border war inside the Supreme Court. At the physical border are 29 miles of coiled razor wire on the United States side […]
Read MoreSupreme Court Backs Biden for Now in Dispute With Texas Over Border Barrier
The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Monday in a dispute over a concertina-wire barrier erected by Texas along the Mexican border. The justices temporarily lifted an appeals court’s ruling that had generally prohibited federal officials from removing the wire. The Supreme Court’s brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the […]
Read MoreA Death Row Lawyer Blunders. Must His Client Pay the Price?
Joseph Gamboa, a death row inmate in Texas, says his court-appointed lawyer robbed him of the chance to challenge his murder conviction in federal court. Among other things, court records show, the lawyer ignored evidence supplied by Mr. Gamboa, filed a cut-and-paste habeas corpus petition that still bore the name of an earlier client and […]
Read MoreCourt Rules Texas Can Ban Emergency Abortions Despite Federal Guidance
Emergency room doctors in Texas are not required to perform emergency abortions despite federal guidance that requires hospitals to offer stabilizing care, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a ruling that sided with the state of Texas, which had sued the Biden administration, arguing […]
Read MoreCourt Rules Texas Can Ban Emergency Abortions Despite Federal Guidance
Emergency room doctors in Texas are not required to perform emergency abortions despite federal guidance that requires hospitals to offer stabilizing care, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a ruling that sided with the state of Texas, which had sued the Biden administration, arguing […]
Read MoreJustice Dept. Threatens to Sue Texas Over Migrant Arrest Law
The Justice Department on Thursday threatened to sue Texas if it enforced a sweeping new law that would allow the state and local police to arrest migrants who enter the United States from Mexico without authorization, setting up the first significant legal showdown over federal immigration enforcement. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed the measure, […]
Read MoreState Dept.’s Fight Against Disinformation Comes Under Attack
A Republican-led campaign against researchers who study disinformation online has zeroed in on the most prominent American government agency dedicated to countering propaganda and other information operations from terrorists and hostile nations. The agency, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, is facing a torrent of accusations in court and in Congress that it has helped […]
Read MoreTexas Abortion Ruling in Kate Cox Case Keeps Doctors Fearful
Texas doctors, women and lawyers have been asking the state for nearly two years to clarify what is and what is not allowed under strict, overlapping abortion bans. Lawmakers passed a bill this year that makes some exceptions to the bans clearer, but it wasn’t enough to help doctors decide whether they could legally give […]
Read MoreA Texas Case Shows That Abortion Ban Exemptions Are a Sham
This case is unusual for Cox’s willingness to wage a legal fight while suffering a medical catastrophe, but not for the cruel bind the state has placed her in. The day Cox received the terrible news about her fetus, the Texas Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments in Zurawski v. Texas, a suit brought by […]
Read MoreWoman Who Sought Court-Ordered Abortion Is Leaving Texas for Procedure
A pregnant woman at the center of a legal fight in Texas over whether she could have an abortion under a medical exception to the state’s strict bans has decided to leave the state for the procedure, an abortion rights group representing her said on Monday. The decision by the woman, Kate Cox, who is […]
Read MoreTexas A.G. Ken Paxton Tries to Block Court-Approved Abortion
Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse a lower court order allowing an abortion to proceed in spite of the state’s strict bans, in the case of a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal condition. In overnight filings on Thursday, Mr. Paxton argued that the court must act […]
Read MoreTexas Woman Sues State for an Abortion
A pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal condition sued the state on Tuesday seeking an emergency court order to allow her doctor to perform an abortion, despite the state’s strict bans on the procedure. The lawsuit is believed to be one of the first attempts in the nation to seek a court-ordered abortion […]
Read MoreJudge Orders Border Agents to Stop Cutting Texas’ Barbed Wire Fence
In the latest chapter in an expanding legal struggle over border security, a federal judge in Texas ordered federal Border Patrol agents on Monday to stop cutting concertina wire that had been placed by the state along the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing from Mexico. The temporary restraining order, granted by Judge Alia […]
Read MoreAcquitted by the Texas Senate, Ken Paxton Still Faces Legal Problems
Ken Paxton, the embattled attorney general of Texas, survived an impeachment vote in the State Senate over the weekend, but the case is far from behind him: The U.S. Justice Department still has an open investigation over many of the same allegations of corruption and abuse of office. And in October, Mr. Paxton’s lawyers will […]
Read MoreBehind Paxton’s Impeachment, a Republican Battle for Control of Texas
The impeachment trial of Ken Paxton that ended in his acquittal on Saturday was about more than the fate of the Texas attorney general. It was also the most dramatic flashpoint in a yearslong struggle among Republican leaders in the Legislature over control of the party and the future direction of the state. The trial […]
Read MoreKen Paxton’s Trial Became a Contest Over Republican Politics
The case against Ken Paxton, a nationally prominent conservative politician, was overseen by a board of managers from the state’s House, led by Republicans, and it played out at times as a contest over how much Republican politics should matter in the proceedings. The House lawmakers approached the case like a criminal trial, appointing a […]
Read MoreTexas Senators Begin to Deliberate Ken Paxton Impeachment
Deliberations began on Friday in the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, as the jury of state senators weighed allegations of bribery and abuse of office based on complaints made against him by his most senior former aides. Before deliberating, the senators — 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats — heard closing arguments […]
Read MoreProsecution Rests in Paxton Impeachment Trial, Focusing on Favors
The Republican-led prosecution rested its case on Wednesday for impeaching the attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, ending on a central claim: that an Austin real estate investor paid for Mr. Paxton’s home renovations in exchange for favors. The testimony about countertops and cabinetry — and bills for $121,000 — came on the seventh day […]
Read MoreTexas Law Titans Rusty Hardin and Tony Buzbee Clash at Paxton Impeachment Trial
From the start, the courtroom drama in the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has centered on a confrontation between the larger-than-life Houston lawyers brought in by each side to argue the case. In Mr. Paxton’s corner, there is Tony Buzbee, a well-tanned orator and onetime candidate for mayor of Houston, who […]
Read MoreThe Contagious Corruption of Ken Paxton
Let me use an analogy I’ve used before: Think of a leader as setting the course of a river. It’s always easier to swim with the current. Yes, you can swim against the current for a while, but eventually you’ll exhaust yourself, and you’ll either yield to the current or leave the stream altogether. And […]
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