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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

From Vox: Delaware death penalty law declared unconstitutional by state’s highest court

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Add this to our discussion of criminal justice, the Bill of Rights, due process, juries, state judicial systems, and political culture - am...

From the Texas Tribune: Texas Supreme Court Upholds School Funding System

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A repost from a few months back - a look at Texas' top civil court, and education policy in Texas, and the meaning of the Texas Constit...
Tuesday, August 2, 2016

From the New Yorker: THE NATHAN HECHT STORY: CONSERVATIVES CAPTURING COURTS

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A look at the current Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and the role he has played in using the courts to push the conservative agen...

Regarding the Texas Judiciary

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A few items in the news. All from the Texas Tribune. - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Launches Final Appeal in Securities Fraud Case . T...

From The Texas Observer: The Interview: Judge John Dietz on Texas’ School Finance Crisis

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Deitz was the district judge who ruled that the recent cuts by the Texas Legislature in school finance were unconstitutional. This was over...

From Ballotpedia ....

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- The Texas Supreme Court . - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals .

From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times: Courts are chipping at public’s right to know

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A critical look at the Texas Supreme Court. - Click here for the article . Those of us who keep a close eye on Texas' evolving open g...

From Mother Jones: How Dark Money is Taking Over Judicial Elections

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Is justice being bought in Texas? - Click here for the article. Most people don't think about judicial elections until they find the...

From the New York Times: Critics See Efforts by Counties and Towns to Purge Minority Voters From Rolls

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Perhaps this addresses the question posed in the previous post. - Click here for the article . . . . the purge of Sparta voters is precis...

From the Texas Tribune: Analysis: See How Texans Turn Out, Vote in Presidential Elections

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There's a reason Republican candidates dominate statewide office. - Click here for the article . Republicans have had the upper hand ...

From mySA: Federal judicial vacancies in Texas still an emergency

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A reminder that Texas - as the rest of the states - has a dual judicial system. On is elected, the other is appointed. - Click here for t...

From the Texas Tribune: The Brief: Fatal Balloon Crash Raises Safety Concerns

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Federalism. Does Texas even have a hot air balloon policy? Is this fully national? - Click here for the article . Sixteen people died in ...
Monday, August 1, 2016

East Montgomery News: County Judge Doyal, with new attorney Hardin, pleads for reinstatement

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For out look at county judges and - sort of - the judiciary. - Click here for the article . In an emotional plea Tuesday, Montgomery County...

From the LBB: Financing the Judiciary in Texas - Legislative Primer

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A good look at both the budgeting process, and the Texas judiciary from a financing point of view. - Click here for it . Former Chief Justic...

From the Houston Chronicle: A view from inside a Harris County grand jury - The state's new selection process for grand juries did, indeed, yield a diverse, well-qualified group.

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A positive evaluation of one of the criminal justice reforms made in the 84th session of the Texas Legislature. - Click here for the articl...
Sunday, July 31, 2016

From The Monitor: EDITORIAL: New federal courthouse needed in McAllen

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For our look at the dual judiciary: - Click here for the article , Several local, state and federal officials have been on a worthy campa...
Thursday, July 28, 2016

KXAN: Gov. Abbott appoints, then pushes out acupuncture board member

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The appointment process ain't always easy. Who knew we had a Texas Board of Acupuncture Examiners . - Click here for the articl e. Go...

From the UK Indepedent: Texas governor Greg Abbott ‘secretly’ proposes rule requiring burial and cremation of aborted fetuses - The governor will bypass state legislation to implement the rule

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A twist on the rule making process. - Click here for the article . Only days after reproductive rights advocates celebrated the Supreme C...

From the Texas Tribune: Latino Voters Sue to Bolster Influence on Electing Judges

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For our look at civil rights, elections, and the judiciary - among other things. Should Texas' top courts be elected in single member d...

From the Texas Tribune: Paxton Opinion Slams Schools' Transgender Policies

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Doing what he is constitutionally authorized to do. A great example of conflict between the three levels of government. - Click here for...

From SA Current: Governor's Office is Clearly Not Happy About Bush's Handling of the Alamo

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Tensions within the plural executive. - Click here for the article . One of the Texas GOP's rising stars — a Bush, no less — is taking...

From the Texas Tribune: It’s Joe Straus’ House — at least until 2019 — after Tuesday’s Texas GOP primaries

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Straus maybe have wrapped up another term as speaker last March. - Click here for the article . Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and his ...
Wednesday, July 27, 2016

From the Texas Tribune: Charges Dismissed Against Anti-Abortion Activists Who Made Video

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Lot's to chew on here. Activists on the left and the right should celebrate the decisions since it makes it easier for them to shine a ...

From the Texas Tribune: Texas Cemetery Scraps "Whites Only" Policy

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Seems about time. Enforcing equal protection gets tricky when it affects the private sector. Note the use of the courts as a remedy. - Clic...

Trib + Water

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When we walk through Article 3 of the Texas Constitution I like to note the inclusion of large number of bonds approved by the voters for wa...

From the Texas Tribune: Tensions Erupt at Texas Democrats' Convention Breakfast

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For our ongoing look at political parties in Texas. Unity ain't easy. - Click here for the article . A contentious scene unraveled he...

From the DMN: Dallas County property values see record increases. Will officials cut taxes or keep the cash?

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Building of the post on property taxes below: - Click here for the article . Property values rose more than 10 percent across Dallas Coun...

From Watchdog: Commercial lawsuits blow back on Texas taxpayers

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For our discussion of local government and taxes - who bears the burden of property taxes in the state? - Click here for the article . La...

From the Texas Tribune: Texas vs. the Feds — A Look at the Lawsuits

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Add this to our look at federalism. - Click here for the article . Since President Obama took office in 2009, the state of Texas has sued...
Tuesday, July 26, 2016

From the DMN: Speaker Joe Straus, never a conservative favorite, faces fewer haters at Texas GOP convention

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For our look at the Texas House. - Click here for the article . House Speaker Joe Straus took less heat. Some brickbats aimed at him sail...

DNC Rules Committee Meeting

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For 2306 today

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- Major Ken Paxton donor paying $3.5 million settlement after Medicaid fraud probe . A North Texas company whose president gave state Attor...

From the Monkey Cage: Can Bernie Sanders change how the Democratic Party chooses presidential nominees? Here’s what you need to know.

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An account of the process the DNC went through to alter their rules of procedure. - Click here for the article . The Democratic Nationa...
Monday, July 25, 2016

From Vox: Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigns as Democratic National Committee chair

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For our look at the organization of political parties. - Click here for the article . On the eve of the 2016 Democratic National Conventi...

More on the 85th session

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- Open Carry, Funding Likely Police Issues Next Session . Within hours of the recent ambush killings of five Dallas police officers — and...

Cruz is in some hot water.

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- After Cleveland Speech, Cruz Faces Isolation in Texas GOP . After upending Donald Trump's Republican National Convention with his c...
Sunday, July 24, 2016

Analysis: The Long and Winding Road to the Texas Ethics Commission

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A look at the convoluted appointment process for the Texas agency responsible for overseeing campaign finance, the regulation of lobbyists,...

Is Donald Trump really a conservative?

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For this week's 2305 written assignment. It's a commonly asked question - especially by real conservatives. There are a variety of w...
Thursday, July 21, 2016

Catching up with the Texas Association of Business

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Recent stories involving Texas' most powerful interest group: - The Texas Association of Business Files Suit in Federal Court Against ...

From Vox: How Republicans went from the party of Lincoln to the party of Trump, in 13 maps

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Highly recommended for both 2305 and 2306. - Click here for it . Here's one of the images: How Republicans gave up on reforming the Sout...
Wednesday, July 20, 2016

More on the agenda of the 85th Texas legislative session

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I just typed "85th session" into Goggle's search engine, and here's what came up: - TACC: On the Road to the 85th Legisl...

From the Texas Tribune: Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act, Court Rules

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We discussed this in a lecture class today. Nice to see it in the news. - Click here for the article . Texas’ voter identification law vio...

From the Texas Tribune: Analysis: For Some Texas Republicans, Useful Distractions Back Home

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More on the divisions between the state and national Republican parties. - Click here for the article . This year’s general election ball...

From the National Review: Trump leaves Texas Republicans morose and anxious.

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Texas is not excited about their candidate, or what he might mean for the future of the party's coalition. - Click here for the article ...

From the Washington Post: George Will: With Texas, a wall too high for the GOP?

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A perennial topic - will Texas ever turn blue? - Click here for the article . Political conventions are echo chambers designed to generat...

Parties in Texas

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For review | - Texas Democrats . - Texas Parties . - Texas Republicans .

The 2016 Republican Party Platform

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- Click here for it . Critics call it exceptionally extreme. - LA Times . - The New Republic . - The New York Times .