A basic point regarding federalism:
- Click here for the article.
The short answer is yes. And a handful of such local control battles have raged in the Texas Legislature in recent years.
The most newsworthy: During the 2017 legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that pre-empted Texas cities from imposing regulations on ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, as several Texas cities — including Austin — had already done. The bill placed regulatory oversight with the state.
The Texas Tribune partnered with the education publisher Pearson to explain local control — and cities' jurisdictional tussles with the state — for Texas students.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Monday, December 10, 2018
From the Texas Tribune: Can public officials block users on Facebook? This Texas case could help answer that
An interesting spin on free speech
- Click here for the article.
After criticizing the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page, Deanna Robinson found herself blocked from commenting or liking its posts. Nearly two years later, her free speech case against the small law enforcement agency is reaching the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The case could ultimately clear up what's become a muddied legal question impacting everyone from rural elected officials around the country to the president: In the age of social media, what constitutes a public forum?
Robinson’s lawsuit against her local sheriff's office was a culmination of years of contentious run-ins with the office.
Three-and-a-half years ago, a Hunt County deputy and local police officer arrived at her parents’ home with representatives from Child Protective Services and an order to take custody of Robinson’s 18-month-old son. When she asked to see the order, the officers refused. That’s when things escalated. In a home surveillance video widely circulated online at the time, Robinson – eight months pregnant – can be seen cowering in the corner of her kitchen as a Hunt County deputy and a Quinlan police officer force her to the floor and handcuff her. She was charged with assaulting an officer.
Over a year later, charges against Robinson related to both interfering with a child custody order and assaulting an officer were dropped. CPS hadn’t served Robinson the order that she was accused of violating before arriving with the writ of attachment that they wouldn’t let her read. A grand jury decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to put the officers Robinson accused of assaulting her on trial.
In the backdrop of that strained history, the Hunt County Sheriff's Office blocked Robinson from commenting on the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page last year after she criticized the office there. She filed her lawsuit in February 2017. After losing the case at a North Texas trial court, Robinson appealed to the 5th Circuit. Oral arguments will be heard Thursday morning in New Orleans. As one of the first cases of its kind to make it to an appeals court, the outcome could help set a new legal precedent for government use of social media.
For some First Amendment lawyers, Robinson’s history with the sheriff’s office is part of what makes this case fascinating. “It’s quite clear she was singled out,” said Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. “If the First Amendment protects anything, it’s the quality of government services you’re receiving.”
- Click here for the article.
After criticizing the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page, Deanna Robinson found herself blocked from commenting or liking its posts. Nearly two years later, her free speech case against the small law enforcement agency is reaching the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The case could ultimately clear up what's become a muddied legal question impacting everyone from rural elected officials around the country to the president: In the age of social media, what constitutes a public forum?
Robinson’s lawsuit against her local sheriff's office was a culmination of years of contentious run-ins with the office.
Three-and-a-half years ago, a Hunt County deputy and local police officer arrived at her parents’ home with representatives from Child Protective Services and an order to take custody of Robinson’s 18-month-old son. When she asked to see the order, the officers refused. That’s when things escalated. In a home surveillance video widely circulated online at the time, Robinson – eight months pregnant – can be seen cowering in the corner of her kitchen as a Hunt County deputy and a Quinlan police officer force her to the floor and handcuff her. She was charged with assaulting an officer.
Over a year later, charges against Robinson related to both interfering with a child custody order and assaulting an officer were dropped. CPS hadn’t served Robinson the order that she was accused of violating before arriving with the writ of attachment that they wouldn’t let her read. A grand jury decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to put the officers Robinson accused of assaulting her on trial.
In the backdrop of that strained history, the Hunt County Sheriff's Office blocked Robinson from commenting on the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page last year after she criticized the office there. She filed her lawsuit in February 2017. After losing the case at a North Texas trial court, Robinson appealed to the 5th Circuit. Oral arguments will be heard Thursday morning in New Orleans. As one of the first cases of its kind to make it to an appeals court, the outcome could help set a new legal precedent for government use of social media.
For some First Amendment lawyers, Robinson’s history with the sheriff’s office is part of what makes this case fascinating. “It’s quite clear she was singled out,” said Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. “If the First Amendment protects anything, it’s the quality of government services you’re receiving.”
a couple interest groups, a city, and two executive agencies.and the 86th legislative session
Here are a variety of links to what various interest groups would like the legislature to focus on. What follows are the wishes of a couple interest groups, a city, and two executive agencies.
I'll add more.
From the Texas Medial Association: 86th Texas Legislature Letters and Testimonies.
- Who are these people? The Texas Medical Association, the nation’s largest and one of the oldest and most powerful state medical societies, speaks out for more than 52,000 physician and medical student members across the state in our commitment to improve the health of all Texans. In partnership with our 112 county medical societies, we have been helping Texas physicians set high professional and ethical standards since 1853. (its a professional association - a type of interest group)- Click here for background about them from Ballotpedia.
From the City of Dallas: Proposed Program for the 86th Session of theTexas Legislature.
- For related info:
- - Texas Municipal League Legislative Update.
- - Texas Association of Counties: County Legislative Issues.
From the Higher Education Coordinating Board: Legislative Recommendations to the 86th Texas Legislature.
- What is this thing? (Its an executive agency. It oversees - among many other things - your curriculum)
- Click here for their sunset report.
From the Texas Hospital Association: 2019 Legislative Session.
- From their website: In 1930, the Texas Hospital Association was launched by a handful of hospital administrators who recognized the value of working together to provide superior health care. Since then, the health care industry has changed dramatically – and so has THA. Today, THA is one of the largest, most respected health care associations in the country, and the only association that represents the entire Texas hospital industry. The Texas Hospital Association serves as the political and educational advocate for more than 430 hospitals and health systems statewide. From the board room to the C-suite, savvy Texas hospital leaders know that THA is the place to make their voices heard on the issues most important to their operations.- Ballotpedia: the American Hospital Association.
From Texas Court Appointive Special Advocates: 86th Legislative Session.
- What is Texas CASA? Texas CASA is the statewide organization for volunteer advocate programs. Texas CASA and its 72 local programs ensure that every child has an advocate to speak for his or her best interest before the courts. The advocate is a caring adult, trained to help a child through this difficult period in life. Their mission is to support local CASA volunteer advocacy programs and to advocate for effective public policy for children in the child protection system.
I'll add more.
From the Texas Medial Association: 86th Texas Legislature Letters and Testimonies.
- Who are these people? The Texas Medical Association, the nation’s largest and one of the oldest and most powerful state medical societies, speaks out for more than 52,000 physician and medical student members across the state in our commitment to improve the health of all Texans. In partnership with our 112 county medical societies, we have been helping Texas physicians set high professional and ethical standards since 1853. (its a professional association - a type of interest group)- Click here for background about them from Ballotpedia.
From the City of Dallas: Proposed Program for the 86th Session of theTexas Legislature.
- For related info:
- - Texas Municipal League Legislative Update.
- - Texas Association of Counties: County Legislative Issues.
From the Higher Education Coordinating Board: Legislative Recommendations to the 86th Texas Legislature.
- What is this thing? (Its an executive agency. It oversees - among many other things - your curriculum)
- Click here for their sunset report.
From the Texas Hospital Association: 2019 Legislative Session.
- From their website: In 1930, the Texas Hospital Association was launched by a handful of hospital administrators who recognized the value of working together to provide superior health care. Since then, the health care industry has changed dramatically – and so has THA. Today, THA is one of the largest, most respected health care associations in the country, and the only association that represents the entire Texas hospital industry. The Texas Hospital Association serves as the political and educational advocate for more than 430 hospitals and health systems statewide. From the board room to the C-suite, savvy Texas hospital leaders know that THA is the place to make their voices heard on the issues most important to their operations.- Ballotpedia: the American Hospital Association.
From Texas Court Appointive Special Advocates: 86th Legislative Session.
- What is Texas CASA? Texas CASA is the statewide organization for volunteer advocate programs. Texas CASA and its 72 local programs ensure that every child has an advocate to speak for his or her best interest before the courts. The advocate is a caring adult, trained to help a child through this difficult period in life. Their mission is to support local CASA volunteer advocacy programs and to advocate for effective public policy for children in the child protection system.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
From the Texas Tribune: Analysis: It’s still a Republican Texas government, but it’s a new one
The consequences of the recent election reverberate.
- Click here for the article
The Texas House is in the middle of a reboot — a change in leadership and the general mix of things that only takes place about once a decade.
House Speaker Joe Straus is leaving. State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, has collected enough promises from members of the House to succeed Straus in January, when the actual vote takes place.
You can see people changing positions, rearranging their political stances for a fresh start.
After a narrow election victory, the noisiest conservative in the Texas House, Jonathan Stickland of Bedford, is telling his local journalists it’s time to for him to use more honey and less vinegar.
Jeff Leach of Plano, another member of the House’s Freedom Caucus — a group that had been playing loyal opposition to Straus within the GOP — quit the caucus in a public letter saying now would be a good time to try to work with all the Republicans.
It’s probably unrelated, but interesting, that outside of the Texas Capitol, Republican leaders are trying to stop the local branch in Tarrant County from ousting its vice chairman because he is Muslim. And you’ve got a lot of Texas conservatives scratching their heads after a general election that saw a scary drop in their traditional suburban voting power — including in Tarrant County.
Maybe it’s just the mood of a funeral week that has seen an outpouring of fond remembrance for former President George H.W. Bush, viewed in the polarity of current times as a model for comity in politics — even between friends and enemies.
What’s happening in the House, though, is both real and predictable.
- Click here for the article
The Texas House is in the middle of a reboot — a change in leadership and the general mix of things that only takes place about once a decade.
House Speaker Joe Straus is leaving. State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, has collected enough promises from members of the House to succeed Straus in January, when the actual vote takes place.
You can see people changing positions, rearranging their political stances for a fresh start.
After a narrow election victory, the noisiest conservative in the Texas House, Jonathan Stickland of Bedford, is telling his local journalists it’s time to for him to use more honey and less vinegar.
Jeff Leach of Plano, another member of the House’s Freedom Caucus — a group that had been playing loyal opposition to Straus within the GOP — quit the caucus in a public letter saying now would be a good time to try to work with all the Republicans.
It’s probably unrelated, but interesting, that outside of the Texas Capitol, Republican leaders are trying to stop the local branch in Tarrant County from ousting its vice chairman because he is Muslim. And you’ve got a lot of Texas conservatives scratching their heads after a general election that saw a scary drop in their traditional suburban voting power — including in Tarrant County.
Maybe it’s just the mood of a funeral week that has seen an outpouring of fond remembrance for former President George H.W. Bush, viewed in the polarity of current times as a model for comity in politics — even between friends and enemies.
What’s happening in the House, though, is both real and predictable.
Monday, December 3, 2018
From Lawfare: The Anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine
The power of a president to threaten - not wage - war is at issue here.
- Click here for the article.
- Click here for the article.
Monroe’s proclamation is a momentous example of the president’s vast constitutional power to set and communicate U.S. foreign policy. This was not just any kind of diplomatic policy, however.
This was drawing a red line—with an implicit war threat—even though the United States at the time lacked the military power to back it up. The United States was counting on Britain, which too wanted to keep continental European powers out of Latin America, to also intervene if necessary. “In its sweep and bravado,” writes Kori Schake in “Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony,” “the Monroe Doctrine has few equals, especially since it was promulgated by a country that was not the peer of the states—Britain, France, and Spain—whose activity it sought to curtail.” The real strategic brains behind this move was then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and for more on his role I highly recommend Charles Edel’s book, “Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic.”
The late legal historian David Currie noted in his volumes on the Constitution in Congress that “[v]irtually no one questioned [Monroe’s proclamation] at the time. Yet it posed a constitutional difficulty of the first importance.” The president was unilaterally committing the nation to war if European states crossed Monroe’s red lines, but it was Congress’s sole prerogative to initiate war. By putting U.S. prestige and credibility on the line, his threat limited Congress’s practical freedom of action if European powers chose to intervene. When he succeeded Monroe as president, Adams faced complaints from opposition members of Congress that Monroe’s proclamation had exceeded his constitutional authority and had usurped Congress’s power by committing the United States—even in a nonbinding way—to resisting European meddling in the hemisphere.
Related from the same author:
- The Power to Threaten War.
Existing legal scholarship about constitutional war powers focuses overwhelmingly on the President's power to initiate military operations abroad and the extent to which that power is constrained by Congress. It ignores the allocation of legal power to threaten military force or war, even though threats – to coerce or deter enemies and to reassure allies – is one of the most important ways in which the United States government wields its military might. This paper fills that scholarly void, and draws on recent political science and historical scholarship to construct a richer and more accurate account of the modern presidency's powers to shape American security policy and strategy.
This was drawing a red line—with an implicit war threat—even though the United States at the time lacked the military power to back it up. The United States was counting on Britain, which too wanted to keep continental European powers out of Latin America, to also intervene if necessary. “In its sweep and bravado,” writes Kori Schake in “Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony,” “the Monroe Doctrine has few equals, especially since it was promulgated by a country that was not the peer of the states—Britain, France, and Spain—whose activity it sought to curtail.” The real strategic brains behind this move was then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and for more on his role I highly recommend Charles Edel’s book, “Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic.”
The late legal historian David Currie noted in his volumes on the Constitution in Congress that “[v]irtually no one questioned [Monroe’s proclamation] at the time. Yet it posed a constitutional difficulty of the first importance.” The president was unilaterally committing the nation to war if European states crossed Monroe’s red lines, but it was Congress’s sole prerogative to initiate war. By putting U.S. prestige and credibility on the line, his threat limited Congress’s practical freedom of action if European powers chose to intervene. When he succeeded Monroe as president, Adams faced complaints from opposition members of Congress that Monroe’s proclamation had exceeded his constitutional authority and had usurped Congress’s power by committing the United States—even in a nonbinding way—to resisting European meddling in the hemisphere.
Related from the same author:
- The Power to Threaten War.
Existing legal scholarship about constitutional war powers focuses overwhelmingly on the President's power to initiate military operations abroad and the extent to which that power is constrained by Congress. It ignores the allocation of legal power to threaten military force or war, even though threats – to coerce or deter enemies and to reassure allies – is one of the most important ways in which the United States government wields its military might. This paper fills that scholarly void, and draws on recent political science and historical scholarship to construct a richer and more accurate account of the modern presidency's powers to shape American security policy and strategy.
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