Perry Sued Over Coal Plants
January 20, 2007 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
Four environmental groups have sued Texas Governor Rick Perry alleging that he lacked authority to issue a 2005 executive order allowing permits for new coal power plants to be fast tracked. The suit specifically alleges that Perry did not have the authority to limit administrative hearings on the permits to six months. The process usually takes at least a year. The plaintiffs charge that the executive order violates the Texas Constitution and state law.
Six hearings on proposed coal plants in East Texas have already been consolidated into a single proceeding as a result of Perry’s order.
Here is what the Plaintiffs have to say:
“We feel very much at a disadvantage,” said Katrina Baecht, a member of Citizens Organizing for Resources and Environment, a group fighting TXU Corp.’s proposed Valley coal-burning plant in Fannin County north of Dallas. “If we had time to learn about it and get the information and assemble our case, we would feel that our rights were being protected.”
Of course, Camp Perry predictibly treats the lawsuits like a speedbump in a mall parking lot:
Robert Black, Mr. Perry’s spokesman, said the governor properly used his executive authority to speed up state hearings and try to get new power plants permitted and built.
“I feel confident that that case will be well made by the [Texas] attorney general,” Mr. Black said. “These things need to get started.”
That remains to be seen. The separation of the judiciary (even the “administrative judiciary”) from undue pressure by the executive is a fairly straightforward thing.
A Good Reason For More Appeals Court Districts
November 10, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
If you’ve ever looked at the district intermediate courts of appeal in Texas (there are 14), you’ve probably noticed that many of them have tremendously large jurisdictions and many have tremendous case loads.
And, of course, many include urban counties and rural counties with no real balance with regard to the actual population of the districts. In the recent past, some counties were even in two appellate districts simeltaniously.
Wile some may tout appointing judges as a good way to fix the problems with many of Texas’ appeallate courts which have started to tilt very far to the right, I’d advocate simply splitting some of the districts. They are huge. Many have somewhat odd county combinations.
Hecht Says Rove Asked Him To Talk To Media About Miers
August 22, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
In proceedings today in which Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht is challenging a public reprimand from the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission concerning numerous media interviews he gave about former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, the justice said Karl Rove asked him to talk to the media about Miers and her faith:
Rove wanted someone who knew about Miers’ faith, and Hecht and Miers had attended an evangelical Christian church in Dallas for years, so Hecht said he agreed to answer reporters’ questions.
Click to learn more…“It wasn’t, ‘Can you go out and use your position to support this person?’” Hecht said during the tribunal called because he is appealing his admonition by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct over his comments on Miers.
In May, the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission admonished Hecht, calling his endorsement of Miers’ nomination improper. Hecht told the White House staff to directall media inquiries about Miers career to him, and gave about 120 newspaper, radio and television interviews.
Abbott, AG’s Office In Hot Water For Removing Files, Missing X-Rays From Federal Depository
August 22, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · 1 Comment
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and his office are in hot water over the removal of records and missing x-rays relating to a fraud investigation into silicosis litigation.
Federal District Judge Janis Jack has chastied Abbott for sending four armed agents to a private, federally sanctioned depsitory in Corpus Christi last month to sieze thousands of records held for the federal courts.
SCOTX Candidate Smith Sues Over Election Problems: The Battle For Texas’ High Courts Continues Among Republicans
April 3, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
As mentioned briefly in the From The Blogs post, former Texas Supreme Court justice Steve Smith has sued SCOTX Justice Don Willet to contest the results of the election for Place 2 on the state’s highest civil court.
According to Texas Lawyer, which has a much better take on the situation than the Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit is basically alleging three things:
1.) The final canvass of the primary election results by the Republican Party of Texas does not include legal votes cast for Smith in at least seven Texas counties: Armstrong, Cass, Childress, Dimmit, Kent, Limestone and Lyon.
2.) The final canvass includes illegal votes for Willett in Galveston.
3.) Final canvass does not include legal votes cast in Tarrant and Gregg counties.
A Wikipedia entry on Smith also makes further allegations related to problematic vote counts:
Other irregularities were also alleged in Winkler County in West Texas as well. Official returns gave Willett a 273-0 advantage in Winkler County. In 2004, however, Smith had beaten opponent Paul Green, 468-249, and in 2002, he had defeated Xavier Rodriguez in the county, 260-92. Therefore, the 273-0 tally raises suspicion.
The magazine also has these comments from legendary Texas election lawyer Buck Wood:
Randall “Buck” Wood, an Austin election law attorney who has represented clients in election contests since the 1970s, says it will be hard for Smith to prevail.
“I think it’s a real shot in the dark for Steve [Smith],” Wood says. “I’m not saying it’s impossible. He may stumble on to something.”
Smith filed the lawsuit on March 31, the deadline for him to take action to contest the election under Texas law.
I’m not familar with the uproar about Galveston or Gregg Counties, but you will recall that in Tarrant County, a “programming glitch” reportedly caused some ballots to be counted as many as six times, a problem for which the company’s voting machine vendor, Hart-Intercivic has taken the blame.After the correction of the results, Willet’s lead shrunk significantly. Smith maintains he took more than 38 percent of the vote in Tarrant County.
Via DMN:
“In a race this close, we think it’s more important than ever that every single vote be counted correctly,” said David Rogers, Mr. Smith’s campaign manager.
Mr. Rogers said the lawsuit has a “1 in 5 chance” of succeeding. He said more results would have to change in Tarrant County for Mr. Smith to win.
Jeff Fisher, executive director of the Texas Republican Party, said he did not believe there were any more problems in Tarrant County. He said Mr. Smith’s lawsuit would not change the election’s results.
The lawsuit also says that the Republican Party’s statewide canvass – the final tally of votes – did not include seven counties. Mr. Fisher said there are very few votes in those counties. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Justice Willett to the court in August.
This entire episode is yet another in the continuing saga of Rick Perry trying to influence the makeup of Texas’ highest courts during elections. Further, it’s yet another instance of Republicans trying to fight among themselves to see who is the “most conservative.”
You’ll no doubt recall that, in 2004, Governor Perry endorsed Smith’s opponent now Justice Paul Green, a move that got Perry on the wrong side of the Young Conservatives of Texas. Smith was first elected in 2002, after defeating Perry appointee Xavier Rodriguez, which sparked a bitter Perry/Smith feud Smith has claimed Perry has refused to attempt to repair.
The 2004 election was somewhat ironic for the GOP, as Smith, best known for his role as an attorney in the Hopwood case, was endorsed by conservative groups and typical GOP stalwart ogranizations like the Texas Eagle Forum.
