Texas Supreme Court

Confederate Lawyer Fights to Keep Confederate Memorial Plastered in Confederate Remembrance

The Texas Supreme Court building is the largest Confederate memorial in the world. Kirk Lyons, a lawyer with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, wants me to know this. He says it, repeats it. At the beginning of the conversation. In the middle. At the end, twice. "That building is still the largest C ... More >>

City of Houston vs. Retired Houston Firefighters at the Texas Supreme Court

Beginning today in Austin, the City of Houston will continue fighting retired firefighters with fire (and vice versa). In 2010, the city asked the state legislature to do something about the firefighters' pension plans. At the time, City of Houston Attorney David Feldman said that a number of reti ... More >>

Asmodeus X Reveals Trippy Sci-Fi Flashback Video

Just when I think I'm never going to hear from the band that got me into goth in the first place Asmodeus X pops back into existence out of nowhere. This time it was with a new music video for the title track off of 2011's Bright Ones, and it is out there. WAY out there. Though there is some basic ... More >>

Zaher El-Ali: Texan Loses Civil Forfeiture Argument in Appeal

A Texas appellate court on Tuesday shot down a man who argued that the state's civil forfeiture law is unconstitutional. We covered the case of Zaher El-Ali and a Chevy Silverado in July; in that case, El-Ali had sold the aforementioned truck to Roberto Faustino, who got popped for a DWI and posses ... More >>

YouTube's Daughter-Beatin' Judge Goes Back to the Bench

Score one for Justice: Judge William "Beltin' Bill" Adams, who made history with a YouTube video showing him whipping his 16-year-old daughter for illegally downloading music, gets to return to the bench this week. The Texas Supreme Court had suspended Adams in November 2011 while the Texas Commiss ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Michelle Gaines Case, $8 Million Judgment Remains Overturned

The U. S. Supreme Court today rejected the appeal by Michelle Gaines, the Palestine, TX woman we wrote about in August who as a teenager was broadsided by an 18-wheeler with no brakes and suffered extensive lasting brain injuries. Initially a jury had awarded Gaines more than $8 million in damages ... More >>

Early Victorian Houston and Texas: Suicide City for the Elite

Houston Babylon, the feature coming out this week, dissects a few of the creepiest and most chilling events in Houston history. In coming up with four of those tales, we stumbled over many more -- too many to fit the print edition. All this week we'll bring you some extra, online-only stories. Che ... More >>

$8 Million Jury Award Overturned by Courts

19-year-old's accident left her with permanent brain damage.

Get Your Vote On: Where to Vote in Today's Primary

That's right, kids, don't check your calendars, it's time to vote. Normally, this type of thing in Texas happens a bit sooner, but thanks to a crazy redistricting battle, it got pushed back to today. As per usual, nice weather will contribute to a healthy turnout, even if the GOP nominee for preside ... More >>

William Adams: Texas Supreme Court Suspends Judge Who Whipped Daughter Pending Investigation

Aransas County judge William Adams, whose daughter set off a worldwide firestorm by releasing video of him beating her with a belt when she was 16, has been suspended by the Texas Supreme Court. Adams has accepted the recommendation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that he be suspended w ... More >>

The Mass Confusion Over Whether Texas Medical Examiners Are Legit Without an Oath of Office

Some people have to take it twice.​When we saw this story about the Webb County Attorney wondering why the county medical examiner never took an oath of office, thus potentially jeopardizing all her rulings, we wondered if the same thing could ever happen in Harris County, since no medical exa ... More >>

Game On

With little in the way of penalties, illegal gambling operations flourish in Houston.

Broken System

A lawsuit alleges that 12,000 kids trapped in foster care with little chance of getting out are being exposed to abuse and neglect, shuttled around the state and denied health services.

Dennis DeAcetis: Brazoria County Man Loses Houses In Divorce, Sues Everybody Again And Again

A lawsuit never dies​When Marianne Whitley and Dennis DeAcetis got divorced in 2003, Whitley got the house. Or at least she thought she did, with good reason. After all, it was so ruled by the judge in their divorce case, and DeAcetis had not disputed the property settlement. But according t ... More >>

Texas Supreme Court Sides With Beachfront Homeowners

Oceanfront property​The Texas Supreme Court gave a big victory today to beachfront homeowners who suddenly find their homes on public land because of storms, saying the state can't take away their property. The battle over open beaches in Texas has been going on for a long time, of course, bu ... More >>

Star Trek's Spock: The Texas Supreme Court Looks To Him For Guidance

Objection, your honor​Some judges are as well-known for their literary prowess as they are for monumental civil and criminal rulings."There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally," Appellate Judge Learned Hand wrote in a 1944 ruling. In 1927, Supreme Court Justice L ... More >>

Some Judicial Action In Those Bad-Faith Worker's-Comp Insurance Cases

​In 2008 we wrote about the problems with Texas Mutual Insurance, a company accused of bad-faith dealings with people who had filed worker's comp claims through them.Two recent court actions have advanced things a bit, including what could be an important showdown at the Texas Supreme Court.The fi ... More >>

Bob Perry Loses A Big Verdict In Fort Worth

Bob Perry​Houston homebuilder Bob Perry usually gets what he wants, whether it's John Kerry getting Swift-Boated out of the White House or a Texas Supreme Court filled with his pals and recipients of his campaign cash.One thing he really wanted was to beat Bob & Jane Cull of Mansfield in a cou ... More >>

13-Year-Old Can't Be A Prostitute Because She Can't Consent To Sex, Attorneys Argue

​The Texas Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a case involving the Harris County District Attorney's prosecution of a 13-year-old girl for prostitution. Attorneys for the girl, called "B.W." in the proceedings, say that, because a minor cannot consent to sex, B.W. should not have been ... More >>

Radnofsky's Claim About Texas Marriages Is Quite A Stretch

​Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who plans to challenge Greg Abbott as a Democratic candidate in next year's Attorney General race, must feel that the spotlight isn't shining bright enough from her speaking gig at tonight's Tarrant County Young Democrats Gubernatorial Forum at Texas Christia ... More >>

Texas Exorcism Case Goes to Washington

With the Christmas season lingering, there's one fellow who's been left out of the merriment and good tidings. A certain fellow with horns and a pitchfork. And he seems to be doing whatever he can to snatch a bit of the spotlight, as evidenced in an exorcism lawsuit that might be reviewed by the U.S ... More >>

Bad Faith and Texas Mutual Insurance

Houston attorney Mike Doyle and TMI are locked in a battle over truth, lies and an employee's right to workers' comp benefits.

A Mainstream Mormon's Test of Faith

Seven months have passed since the polygamist raid in Eldorado, but the effects linger

This Just In: Sometimes Voters Aren't Very Informed About Candidates

Nice Try: Bob Barr Wants John McCain and Barack Obama Thrown Off the Texas Ballot

Woodwind Lakes subdivision built on oil and gas field turns on neighbor who pointed out the contamination

Seminal Case

How donated sperm spawned a child -- as well as a likely landmark legal decision

Worker Benefits?

Houston's NAACP faces a protest of its own when it takes sides in a divorce case

Letters

Cleared Again

A complaint against a paralegal gets dismissed

All I Want for Christmas Is...

A shopping list for your favorite political types

Midsummer Night's Political Dreams

Mirth and anger follow Berry's decision to run for mayor

Child Support

The same extreme measures that saved Sidney Miller at birth also severely disabled her 11 years ago. Texas courts are still trying to determine who should pay for it -- and could set a legal precedent in the process.

Some Very Reliant Directors

Board members on gilded strings

Political Flights of Fancy

Dem Hispanic stars collide while a resigning judge targets the county attorney

Calling On the Governor

WorldPeace wages telemarketing terror in his quest for office

Austin Shocker

Congressional redistricting: Dem disaster or Trojan horse?

Court Blues: Making a False Impression

Dolcefino escapes a libel hit, but Texas journalists aren't celebrating

The Insider

The Talented Mr. Stockman. A defeated politician resurrects himself in Seventh District heaven with a stash of campaign cash

Zoned Out

An A.G.'s opinion only adds to the questions over Houston's special tax districts

Judicial Hunting Season Opens

Slipping Under the Bar Radar

Will a less-than-Frank Reyes cloud O'Quinn's win?

Balancing the Bench

Will race and bad blood play a part in the Guv's judicial picks?

Altered Statements

The Great Sucking Sound

Bart Sipriano's well dried up four days after Ozarka started pumpin massive amount of water nearby. Under the state's archaic "rule of capture," the East Texan has no right to complain.

Judicial Arts Endowment

Devine converts plaintiffs' lawyers' cash into a courtroom gallery

Letters

Into the Mystic (Book)

Female Troubles

A dumb cartoon illustrates women lawyers' problems with the State Bar

Trashing Houston

To a world worried about waste, Houston may offer an answer -- or at least a place for the garbage to go