The latest Attorney General's Office news from The Texas Tribune.
A federal appeals court today ruled that the individual insurance mandate in President Obama's health care reform plan is unconstitutional, a decision Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott lauded as a step toward ending "Obamacare." Full Story
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The Texas Forensic Science Commission’s investigation of the science used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham may be at an end after the state’s top attorney ruled that the panel cannot consider evidence in cases older than 2005. Full Story
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U.S. Distict Judge Lee Yeakel today denied Rais Bhuiyan’s request to the stay the execution of Mark Stroman, the man who shot him and killed two others and is scheduled to die tonight for his crimes. Full Story
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Texas bypassed the Obama administration's Department of Justice on Tuesday, opting to ask a panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C., to review the state's new maps for congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts. Full Story
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Prosecutors will be able to punish kids who send explicit photos to each other without resorting to putting them on the sex offender registry, under a bill Attorney General Greg Abbott lauded in a press release today. Full Story
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Anyone planning to email Gov. Rick Perry for the remainder of this session need not bother trying to reach him on his personal account. He won't be using it. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general and the FBI are already investigating the accidental release of personal information by the comptroller's office. Now, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, an outside group wants to start its own investigation. Full Story
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The comptroller of public accounts has been ducking responsibility ever since revealing that her agency had put the names and Social Security numbers of 3.5 million people in a publicly available spot on its website. Full Story
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Frustrated state employees continue to search for help — and answers — after the comptroller's office accidentally left sensitive personal data on an open server for anyone to see. Full Story
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Tenet Healthcare Corp., a Dallas-based hospital company under siege by Community Health Systems, has sued its competitor and potential parent for allegedly overbilling Medicare. Full Story
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A judge has ruled the state may continue its legal challenge against the pharmaceutical company Janssen over allegations it offered officials kickbacks to get a schizophrenia medicine on a preferred drug list. Full Story
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Under the proposed legislation, teens caught "sexting" could face up to a Class A Misdemeanor. Parents could also face penalties. Full Story
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"Sexting" — sending or receiving pornographic images via cell phones — should be a criminal offense for teenagers, say Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. Full Story
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Members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission expressed concerns today about the progress — or lack thereof — in the case of convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham before ending a yet another meeting without a decision about the evidence that was used to send the Corsicana man to the death chamber in 2004. Full Story
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Rick Perry might be the state official most publicly doing battle with the the federal government, but Greg Abbott is quietly leading the charge on behalf of Texas. The Attorney General, who was just sworn into his third term in office, talked recently with Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune. Full Story
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Texas's bid to suspend a federal efforts to regulate greenhouse gases hit another roadblock today, when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the state's request for a stay of a move to force states to implement federal plans. Full Story
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British tourist Thomas Reeve's murder in an Amarillo bar last fall shattered his family, which has been unable to claim financial assistance from the state’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund because he wasn't a U.S. resident. Full Story
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The Virginia court ruling declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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A federal court's ruling on Monday declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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A Virginia federal district court judge's ruling today that the individual mandate portion of the Obama health care law is unconstitutional is a "huge victory" for Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a phone interview. Full Story
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