The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
In this week’s two-topic TribCast, we discuss the U.S. Supreme Court blocking the consideration of race in college admissions and the dangerous heat inside Texas prisons this summer. Full Story
The court ruled in favor of the six GOP-led states that alleged President Joe Biden overstepped his authority with his loan forgiveness plan. Full Story
The state police agency had been withholding nearly all of its records on law enforcement’s botched response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. DPS will have an opportunity to redact the files before they are released. Full Story
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the practice unconstitutional, admissions experts say other states could look to Texas’ Top 10% Plan as a way to diversify their student bodies. Full Story
No other public universities use race as a factor, but Texas private schools like Rice and Southern Methodist University will be impacted. Full Story
Legislators also passed bills that will provide foster kids entering the troubled system with duffel bags or backpacks and those aging out of the system with help setting up bank accounts. Full Story
A year after the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event, federal prosecutors say seven people face a maximum of life in prison. One of the suspects, who was not identified, has not been arrested. Full Story
A U.S. district judge has long presided over a court case that found Texas’ foster care system unconstitutionally harms kids. Tuesday’s hearing was the first appearance by the state’s new team of defense attorneys. Full Story
The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for major civil rights victories for queer Americans in the 2003 decision that decriminalized homosexuality. But progress for LGBTQ+ people has been uneven. Full Story
The all-Republican court narrowly found that the nonprofit corporation operating the state’s electrical grid qualifies for sovereign immunity, which protects government entities from lawsuits. Full Story
Texas and Louisiana sued after the Biden administration told immigration agents to focus on deporting undocumented immigrants who are convicted of felonies or pose a risk to public safety. The Supreme Court said states didn’t have any standing to sue. Full Story
The impact of Texas’ near-total ban on abortion is coming into focus as patients and providers leave the state, legal challenges languish and the state’s social safety net braces for a baby boom. Full Story
Texas State Historical Association members can’t agree on the makeup of the group’s board. And Executive Director J.P. Bryan, a descendant of Stephen F. Austin, is suing. Full Story
Libraries have been at the receiving end of book challenges, threats and new laws. Now, some worry a federal appeals court could chip away at long-standing protections. Full Story
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s expected ruling on two cases challenging the policy commonly known as affirmative action in college admissions. Full Story
Texas had joined with other plaintiffs in arguing that provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act were unconstitutional racial discrimination. Full Story
State law that limits transgender student athletes’ participation in sports runs afoul of the updated federal civil rights law, which was expanded to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ students, potentially putting Texas schools at risk of losing federal funding. Full Story
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling overturns lower-court decisions that had moved the case back to Collin County, where the suspended attorney general lives. Full Story
The high court left intact a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act in a case many feared would go the other way. The decision’s importance in ongoing litigation over Texas’ political maps will largely be felt in what didn’t happen. Full Story
Billionaire Kelcy Warren claimed that he was defamed by the Democratic candidate’s criticism of the power-grid failure in 2021. Full Story
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