Texas


Lawsuit Against UIL Threatened Over Traditional Gender Team Rules

Gay rights groups are warning that if the governing body for Texas high school athletics continues to hold firm on their rules regarding transgender students, they’re opening the state up to a lawsuit. An informal policy by the University Interscholastic League, which requires student athletes to play on the team that corresponds to their birth certificate, is poised to become official on August 1. Attorney Paul Castillo with the Texas office of the LGBT rights group Lambda Legal, says …


Federal Judge Tosses Out Texas Lawsuit Seeking to Block Syrian Refugee Resettlement

A federal judge on Thursday tossed out a Texas lawsuit filed to prevent Syrian refugees from settling in the state. In dismissing the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge David Godbey said the state failed to make “a plausible claim for relief” in its filing. Today’s ruling is a victory for President Barack Obama and a refugee resettlement group named International Rescue Committee, both …


Texas Gets $50 Million in Massive Volkswagen Settlement

Volkswagen has agreed to pay Texas $50 million in connection with the German automaker’s admitted peddling of diesel vehicles rigged to surpass emissions limits, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday. The partial settlement is part of a larger, multi-billion dollar agreement unveiled Tuesday that awards hundreds of millions of dollars to dozens of states and includes a $10 billion buy- …


Texas Leading Lawsuit to Stop Obama Transgender Directive

Texas joined by 10 other states, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop a federal directive instructing school districts to let transgender students use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday. Calling the Obama administration directive “outside the bounds of the …



Parents File Lawsuit Against Texas Education Agency Over STAAR Exam

A backlash against this year’s STAAR exams escalated Monday when a group of parents sued the state in an attempt to keep schools from using 2016 test scores to rate students — including deciding whether students should advance to the next grade or attend summer school. The lawsuit, filed against the Texas Education Agency in Travis County district court, argues that this year’s scores are …


STAAR Testing Lawsuit

Parents from around Texas including one from the Orangefield School District have filed a lawsuit in Austin looking to throw out the results of this year’s STAAR test scores. The lawsuit claims the test is too long and has caused harm to thousands of students, teachers, and schools in the state of Texas. Jennifer Rumsey has been a teacher in the Orangefield School District for over 17 years and …


Border Higher Ed Gains Began With a Lawsuit

It began with a lawsuit by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in 1987. The Texas border area, including the area from Brownsville to Corpus Christi to San Antonio to El Paso, with 20 percent of Texas population, has improved from 11 percent of Texas higher education revenues in 1993 to 18 percent in 2013, and remains at 18 percent today. The area has …


Lawsuit Fears Force Small Texas Towns to Drop Sex Offender Laws

Small Texas towns struggled with sex offender laws RHOME, Texas — At least 23 Texas towns have now repealed local sex offender ordinances after the threat of legal action forced many to strip their laws, or end up in court. Earlier this year, the small Wise County town of Rhome repealed its ordinance. Mayor Michelle Pittman says as a “general law” community of less than 5,000 people, they were …