The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
The Biden administration reminded hospitals of their obligation to perform life-saving abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Texas sued, arguing it was an overstep that mandated abortions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/54093a24b470cd824be236191b7e3e93/Alamo%20Abortion%20Clinic%20KC%20TT%2019.jpg)
The state has until Jan. 3 to say it won’t arrest people accused of unauthorized entry from Mexico. If not, the Biden administration will sue, saying immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c81eafac71c036316341a8c1a6b16478/Migrants%20El%20Paso%20Dec%2020%20IPA%20TT%2002.jpg)
The Texas Supreme Court has asked the licensing board to offer doctors guidance on how to interpret the medical exception to the state’s abortion ban. Some doctors say that wouldn’t be enough reassurance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cf1302dd1beedc34559d11c5088b45d2/0719%20Abortion%20Hearing%20Presser%20JT%2004%20TT.jpg)
The four whistleblowers asked the court last month to force the attorney general and his aides to sit for deposition, which would require them to answer questions under oath related to the allegations of bribery and corruption. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/fced947d6550b47c979b88e9ee07c6d9/0915%20Paxton%20Trial%20Day%209%20SO%20SAEN%20TT%2001.jpg)
Grissel Velasco paid her doctor to perform a tubal ligation about a decade ago, but still became pregnant. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/554fb880550135d2712ae695ac4f6d13/121823%20Tubal%20Lawsuit%20COURT%20Grissel%20Velasco.jpg)
The lawsuit asks a judge to prevent the state from enforcing Senate Bill 4, which will authorize Texas police to arrest immigrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5c2c80a7fc950c59a77f8305c794ea40/Eagle%20Pass%20Piedras%20Negras%20VGC%2053.JPG)
The new law would authorize police to arrest people they suspect crossed the Rio Grande between ports of entry. Abbott also signed a bill earmarking more than $1 billion for more border barriers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a08f4909b9c57cd3c4c58c6de367ad59/0608%20Abbott%20Border%20Bill%20JT%2004.JPG)
Kelcy Warren, a Dallas pipeline billionaire, sued O’Rourke in early 2022, saying the Democrat defamed him with critical comments about his company’s windfall profits after the Texas energy-grid collapse in February 2021. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/78c9e8c2634854175f95f96e67e66dd2/Kelcy%20Warren%20TT)
Paxton promised to go after the Republican judges over their 2021 ruling that struck down the attorney general’s ability to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/27c3f2947b46f7dbe6ec59ecd23f011b/triptych%20judges.jpg)
Mifepristone has been used to terminate pregnancies after FDA approval 20 years ago. A federal judge in Amarillo attempted to ban it by suspending its regulatory approval. This is the first time the high court will decide an abortion case since its overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a8397beeaedfcfe3ea5b3f1fa40f0b69/1104%20SCOTUS%20File%20JG%20TT%2008.jpg)
The Dallas mom’s case drew national attention and forced the abortion issue before the state Supreme Court. She ended up traveling out of state to terminate her non-viable pregnancy. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2b8384069f025a722d35427a2208f708/Texas%20Supreme%20Court%20MG%20TT%2001.jpg)
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Kate Cox did not qualify for an abortion under the medical exception to the state’s near-total abortion ban. Just hours prior, Cox’s lawyers said she’d traveled out of state to have the procedure. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a4a4df27e2552fa85df41977eea4f44b/Bans%20Off%20Our%20Bodies%20BT%20TT%2012.jpg)
After a Travis County district judge cleared the way for Kate Cox, 31, to terminate her pregnancy, Ken Paxton petitioned the state’s highest court to halt the ruling. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/482181562326f58b71adb9eff7fbe44d/Texas%20Supreme%20Court%20MG%20TT%2015.jpg)
Kate Cox, 31, at 20 weeks pregnant, has learned her fetus has a lethal abnormality that is almost always fatal at birth. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/38282cde3878e6edd53b4eae0e651253/Kate%20Cox%20TT%2001.jpg)
A judge reversed a 2022 decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that involved its controversial “one-mile rule” to deny hearing requests. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5fa6f14a7701584b96886cf7ed24290e/One%20Mile%20ICN%20TT%2008.jpg)
Frazier was indicted in June 2022 on two charges of impersonating a public servant, a felony offense. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges as part of a plea agreement. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5aee8beb0f888cba49a0ea33fe01f022/0529%20Sine%20Die%20EG%2001.JPG)
Ramirez is currently a U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Texas, serving in that role for over two decades. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ee81b2831b733bf8ed5aaeb84a8dd14a/Irma%20Carrillo%20Ramirez%20REUTERS.JPG)
The appeals court upheld an earlier ruling by an Austin federal judge to remove the 1,000-foot-long barrier the state deployed near Eagle Pass. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/beffeadb3710ddb1f69d1812524ea7bf/Eagle%20Pass%20Buoys%20REUTERS.jpg)
O’Connor, the first female U.S. Supreme Court justice, died Friday. She is more commonly known as an Arizonan, but she graduated high school in Texas and multiple schools here now bear her name. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a5fef5e147e7b3d45d41d1d0cc04d02f/Sarah%20Day%20O%20Conner%20REUTERS.jpg)
The files would shed light on the disastrous police response that day, in which officers waited more than an hour to confront the shooter after learning he had an AR-15 style rifle. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/41a05c392a0614b17f298fe5979f3527/Uvalde%20DPS%20REUTERS.jpg)