The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
Griner could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Houston native recently wrote to President Joe Biden begging him not to forget her and other detainees and saying that “I’m terrified I might be here forever.” Full Story
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Because the state is a party in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s cases against the companies, Volkswagen lawyers have argued that allowing the Texas governor to appoint justices to a case for which the state stands to win a substantial amount of money would give “the impression that the State has had undue influence.” Full Story
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The Texas attorney general said that the suit was politically motivated and that the state bar has no authority to police the decisions of his office. Full Story
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The ruling Friday night exposes abortion providers to fines and lawsuits even before the state’s trigger law goes into effect. Full Story
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The high court said a cap on power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions that forces a transition to other fuels may be a “sensible” solution to the climate crisis, but that Congress did not give the Environmental Protection Agency the broad authority to make such requirements. Texas was one of 17 states that joined in the suit. Full Story
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The Trump administration created the Migrant Protection Protocols, also called “remain in Mexico,” in 2019 before the Biden administration canceled it in 2021. The ruling sends the case back to a Texas federal court. Full Story
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Health workers caring for pregnant women now face a bewildering array of legal questions. Full Story
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It’s unclear whether Texas’ tangled web of abortion laws would make it a crime to pay for a Texan to leave the state to get an abortion, but the threat has compelled the funds to cease services. Full Story
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Texas had claimed sovereign immunity when a former state trooper filed a lawsuit accusing the state of not giving him an accommodation when he returned from military service. Full Story
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A ban in effect before Roe v. Wade cannot be used, as threatened last week by Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a judge’s ruling Tuesday. However, the stopgap measure will, at most, extend abortion access in the state for two months. Full Story
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The court ruled a Washington state coach was praying as a private citizen when he knelt after a game on the field, not as an employee of the district. Full Story
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Texas abortion providers and abortion funds ceased operations in the state on Friday for fear of being criminally charged under state laws that pre-date Roe v. Wade. Full Story
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The Houston native was arrested in Russia in mid-February, and her trial starts Friday. State department officials say Griner was “wrongfully detained.” Full Story
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In interviews, the two women expressed a sense of sorrow over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to ban abortions, adding even more enormous obstacles to what was already an uphill battle to protect reproductive rights in Texas. Full Story
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Texas clinics immediately stopped providing abortions Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Then, they had to tell their patients. Full Story
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Experts told The Texas Tribune that Thomas’ opinion signals an openness from the court to reconsidering other settled legal precedents related to rights the court has ruled are protected by the constitution. Full Story
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Friday was joyful for activists who have spent decades fighting to end abortion, and now they want to see abortion restrictions spread nationwide. Full Story
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Advocates say abortion has often been the safest option for many experiencing intimate partner violence. Full Story
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The high court found that states can’t require people to show “proper cause” for a gun permit. Texas allows people to carry handguns without a permit. Full Story
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Abortion clinics, and the patients they serve, have always had to adapt to changing laws and tightening restrictions. But the Supreme Court seems poised to deliver the fatal blow they’ve been dodging for decades. Full Story
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