Email, Zac Petkanas, communications director, Wendy Davis campaign, June 30, 2014
12:04 p.m.
June 16, 2014: Appeals Court Ruled That Former Assistant Attorney General Can Go Forward With Lawsuit Alleging She Was Fired For Refusing To Lie Under Oath. In June 2014, The Dallas Morning News reported, “In May 2009, a former assistant attorney general in Greg Abbott’s office sued the Office of the Attorney General in Dallas County court, claiming she’d been fired for refusing to lie under oath about a Dallas County judge. Five years later, the Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals has ruled that Ginger Weatherspoon can go forward with her lawsuit… The AG’s office has spent years trying to get the suit tossed, claiming, among other things, that Weatherspoon didn’t make a ‘good faith’ effort to blow the whistle to the right links in the chain of command. A three-justice panel disagreed, and issued an opinion Monday written by Justice David Evans that said Dallas County Judge Martin Hoffman did the right thing last year when he refused to grant the AG’s office its request for summary judgment.” [The Dallas Morning News, 6/17/14]
June 18, 2014: Federal Judge Ordered Texas To Pay The Legal Fees Of Lawyers Representing Plaintiffs In Case Challenging District Boundaries Drawn By Republicans. In June 2014, the Austin American-Statesman reported, “In a scolding order, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., told the state of Texas on Wednesday to pay almost $1.1 million in legal fees to lawyers who represented Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis and several minority rights groups in a case challenging district boundaries drawn by the Republican-led Legislature. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer’s order criticized lawyers in state Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office for submitting a legal brief that devoted more effort to complaining than it did to answering the legal issues in the fight over lawyer fees.” [Austin American-Statesman, 6/18/14]
June 23, 2014: Abbott’s Attempt To Have Judge John Dietz Removed From School Financing Case Was Rejected By The Court. In June 2014, the Austin American-Statesman reported, “State District Judge John Dietz will continue to preside over the long-running case that is challenging the way Texas finances its public schools, a visiting judge ruled late Monday. Facing a likely legal defeat, Attorney General Greg Abbott pushed to remove Dietz from the case, arguing that recently revealed emails show the judge was biased in favor of plaintiffs lawyers who are seeking to have the state’s school-finance system declared unconstitutional. Visiting Judge David Peeples disagreed, avoiding a potentially years-long delay in a case that has already run for 2½ years.” [Austin American-Statesman, 6/23/14]
June 23, 2014: U.S. Supreme Court Largely Dismissed Abbott’s Challenge Of Federal Climate Rules. In June 2014, The Texas Tribune reported, “The latest loss for Texas in its ongoing campaign against the federal government and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court largely dismissed Attorney General Greg Abbott’s challenge of federal climate rules. Seven justices agreed that the EPA is allowed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from most large industrial facilities, like power plants and factories. Texas and an industry coalition had argued against the rules. ‘EPA is getting almost everything it wanted in this case,’ said Justice Antonin Scalia, announcing the majority opinion.” [The Texas Tribune, 6/23/14]