By Andrea Zelinski Published 12:00 am CDT, Wednesday, July 11, 2018 Image 1of/1 CaptionClose Image 1 of 1 UT professors back in court fighting Texas campus carry law 1 / 1 Back to Gallery AUSTIN — Three University of Texas professors fighting the state’s campus carry gun law will be back in court Wednesday as they try to convince appellate judges a lower court wrongfully dismissed their case to keep guns out of their classrooms. Attorneys for the professors want a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to decide whether U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel erred when he threw out the professors’ lawsuit last year ruling the professors lacked standing. Yeakel’s decision, which came down almost exactly a year ago, dealt a major win to gun-rights advocates. While firearms are allowed on campus, the professors argue they should be free to make their classrooms gun-free zones to allow … [Read more...] about UT professors back in court fighting Texas campus carry law
5th circuit court of appeals texas
5th Circuit says strict Texas voter ID law violates Voting Rights Act
In what was described by the Dallas Morning News’ Trail Blazers Blog as a “narrow win” for opponents of a Texas voter identification law, a federal appeals court on Wednesday agreed with a federal district court judge that the law has a discriminatory impact and violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act.However, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with a Corpus Christi district court ruling (PDF) last year that the 2011 law was enacted by a Republican majority with a discriminatory intent and that it constitutes a poll tax, according to the Associated Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press. Hence, the appellate panel sent the case back to federal district court to make additional findings concerning the scope of the violation.It appears that the district court may wind up crafting an alternative solution to address the legislative majority’s concern about ballot fraud and require voters to identify themselves without unduly … [Read more...] about 5th Circuit says strict Texas voter ID law violates Voting Rights Act
U.S. Supreme Court Directs 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to Re-Examine University of Texas’ Race-Conscious Admissions Policies
On Monday, June 24, 2013, the U.S Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling in the first affirmative-action case since the 2003 landmark decisions of Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. However, Monday’s ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin did not reach the merits of the school’s policy, holding that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals applied the incorrect standard of review. For academic institutions that have race-conscious admissions policies, this case does not alter the current legal requirement that such polices be “narrowly tailored” to further the compelling governmental interest of having a diverse student body. Because the appellate court did not properly apply this “strict scrutiny” standard, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court for further consideration. In Fisher, a Caucasian applicant, Abigail Fisher, applied to the University of Texas in … [Read more...] about U.S. Supreme Court Directs 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to Re-Examine University of Texas’ Race-Conscious Admissions Policies
5th Circuit blasts lawyer who sent thank-you checks to experts, yet told jurors they were unpaid
Home Daily News 5th Circuit blasts lawyer who sent thank-you… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted April 30, 2018, 7:00 am CDT Hip replacement/Shutterstock.com. A federal appeals court has overturned a $151 million award against a hip implant manufacturer because of “serious evidentiary errors” by the judge and “deceptions” by Mark Lanier, a high-profile Houston lawyer for the plaintiffs. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last Wednesday in an opinion by Judge Jerry Smith. How Appealing links to the decision, while Reuters, Law360, the American Lawyer and Bloomberg have stories. The court said Lanier had presented father-and-son orthopedic surgeons as unpaid experts, emphasizing their compelling pro bono testimony while contrasting the “bought testimony” of the defendants’ experts. Yet Lanier made a $10,000 charitable donation to the father’s favorite charity before trial, and sent … [Read more...] about 5th Circuit blasts lawyer who sent thank-you checks to experts, yet told jurors they were unpaid
5th Circuit temporarily halts implementation of online voter registration system
By Andrea Zelinski Published 6:11 pm, Thursday, May 31, 2018 AUSTIN — The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday tapped the brakes on a lower court ruling that required Texas to quickly install an online voter registration system, temporarily blocking a San Antonio judge’s mandate that the state implement the program within 45-days comply with the national “Motor Voter Act.” The decision to halt the lower U.S. district court’s ruling puts the future of an online voter registration system in jeopardy as the November general election nears. It is unclear how soon the New Orleans-based circuit court will rule on the merits of the case, meaning the legal proceedings could drag on for months. The Texas battle over the Motor Voter law stems from a 2016 lawsuit over whether the state is required to automatically update voters’ registration when people go online to change their address on their driver’s license. Currently, Texans … [Read more...] about 5th Circuit temporarily halts implementation of online voter registration system