December 15, 2021      5:40 PM
In a solid 8 to 1 rebuke of Texas AG Paxton, all-GOP Court of Criminal Appeals ends his ability to unilaterally prosecute election law cases
A ground-breaking decision
out of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today has ended
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s ability to unilaterally prosecute election
law cases.
This opinion of a court
dominated by Republicans confirms the long-held belief of several key
Democratic district attorneys in the state who considered Paxton’s independent
pursuit of election- law cases – like Hervis Rogers being
arrested in Houston after voting in the Super Tuesday election
in 2020 – to be beyond his authority.
The district attorneys,
led by Fort Bend District Attorney Brian Middleton, filed a friend
of the court brief in the case Stephens v The State of Texas,
insisting the Texas Constitution prohibits the Legislature
from conferring authority for the attorney general to pursue prosecutions of
criminal matters.
District or county
attorneys must invite the AG to intercede, they argued.
By Kimberly Reeves
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