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Full-Text Articles in Law
A Synopsis Of Texas And Federal Sovereign Immunity Principles: Are Recent Sovereign Immunity Decisions Protecting Wrongful Governmental Conduct., Marilyn Phelan
A Synopsis Of Texas And Federal Sovereign Immunity Principles: Are Recent Sovereign Immunity Decisions Protecting Wrongful Governmental Conduct., Marilyn Phelan
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Texas Supreme Court recently rendered several decisions involving governmental entities reflecting the court’s inflexible application of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. These decisions raise concerns that the Court may be insulating government employees from adherence to ethical codes of conduct. Just as Congress enacted legislation requiring accuracy and reliability from financial officers of corporations, there exists a similar need for Texas courts to protect the public from governmental harm through misconduct. The current awareness of governmental officials lessens the likelihood of governmental transparency and accountability. This Article analyzes the Court’s current application of the sovereign immunity doctrine to provide …
Plea To The Jurisdiction: Defining The Undefined., Rebecca Simmons, Suzette Kinder Patton
Plea To The Jurisdiction: Defining The Undefined., Rebecca Simmons, Suzette Kinder Patton
St. Mary's Law Journal
Pleas to the jurisdiction have been part of Texas jurisprudence since shortly after Texas became a state. The resulting confusion over the procedure and standards to be employed in resolving a plea was partially alleviated by the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda. From a number of reports from Texas’s reviewing courts, however, it is evident the courts continue to struggle with the plea. Currently there are no established procedural rules to assist with the resolution of a plea to the jurisdiction. Thus, procedures vary from court to court and case to case. …
A Simple Prescription For Texas's Ailing Court System: Stronger Stare Decisis., Andrew T. Solomon
A Simple Prescription For Texas's Ailing Court System: Stronger Stare Decisis., Andrew T. Solomon
St. Mary's Law Journal
Several Texas Supreme Court Justices have recently criticized Texas’s appellate justice system for its failure to provide consistency and the unfairness it produces, namely how litigants are treated differently despite the identical factual circumstances. Despite the warnings of various Texas Justices, neither the Texas Supreme Court nor the Texas Legislature have done much to rectify the lack of uniform justice received by Texas litigants. Most of the proposals to reform the Texas appellate justice systems’ unfairness have focused exclusively on structural changes. While structural changes could help reduce inconsistent “justice”, these reforms fail to address the main substantive problem—Texas’s weak …
Mind The Gap: Expansion Of Texas Governmental Immunity Between Takings And Tort., Jadd F. Masso
Mind The Gap: Expansion Of Texas Governmental Immunity Between Takings And Tort., Jadd F. Masso
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Jennings v. City of Dallas, the city’s wastewater collection division was dispatched to unstop a clogged sewer main but instead caused sewage to spew into the Jennings’ home with dramatic force, causing extensive damage. The Jennings subsequently filed suit against the city, alleging its actions constituted an unconstitutional taking, damaging, or destruction of their property for public use without adequate compensation in violation of Article I, § 17 of the Texas Constitution. The issue presented from the case was whether an individual citizen should be liable for such losses when the damage—as an incident to governmental action—in effect benefits …
Toward Permissive Appeal In Texas., Renee Forinash Mcelhaney
Toward Permissive Appeal In Texas., Renee Forinash Mcelhaney
St. Mary's Law Journal
A comparison of April Marketing & Distributing Corp. v. Diamond Shamrock Refining & Marketing Co. (“April Marketing”), which pended in federal court, and Barshop v. Medina County Underground Water Conservation District (“Barshop”), which pended in state court, illustrates the value of permissive appeal. Both cases had many early procedural similarities. Yet, the cases differ because the federal court allowed for a permissive appeal; the state court did not. The two cases later diverged procedurally, when the federal case was able to appeal the trial court’s interlocutory order denying motion for summary judgment. Lacking this option, the state case was forced …
Juries Under Siege., Phil Hardberger
Juries Under Siege., Phil Hardberger
St. Mary's Law Journal
Beginning in the late 1980s, the Texas Supreme Court saw a slew of conservative judges elected to the bench. With this new Court, previous expansions of the law were stopped. Jury verdicts became highly suspect and were frequently overturned for a variety of reasons. Damages too did not go unnoticed. Juries’ assessments were wiped out by increasingly harsher standards. The ripple effect of the Court’s conservative philosophy on the judicial process was substantial. Jury verdicts, few as they may be, are not subject to harsh scrutiny by conscientious appellate judges sworn to follow the Texas Supreme Court’s precedent. And the …
So Long Sweetheart - State Farm Fire & (And) Casualty Co. V. Gandy Swings The Pendulum Further To The Right As The Latest In A Line Of Setbacks For Texas Plaintiffs., Timothy D. Howell
So Long Sweetheart - State Farm Fire & (And) Casualty Co. V. Gandy Swings The Pendulum Further To The Right As The Latest In A Line Of Setbacks For Texas Plaintiffs., Timothy D. Howell
St. Mary's Law Journal
Some legal commentators would analogize the description of the prisoner of The Pit and the Pendulum to modern tort law and policy. Like a pendulum, tort law is always in motion, swinging between two ideologies: those being the plaintiff-oriented rights of the 1970s-80s, and the tort-reforms which began in the mid-80s. This trend continued until the 1990s and the decision of State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Gandy where Texas plaintiffs began experiencing setbacks. The Gandy decision likely curtails the use of the “sweetheart deal” a practice, in which an insured defendant first settles with the plaintiff, then assigns …
Principles Of Governmental Immunity In Texas: The Texas Government Waives Sovereign Immunity When It Contracts - Or Does It Comment., Renna Rhodes
St. Mary's Law Journal
When the government causes injury through negligence or by breaching a contract, the injured party must face the obstacle of governmental immunity. The doctrine of governmental immunity can act as a total bar to recovery, especially in Texas. Over the years, governmental immunity increasingly has faced attack from courts and commentators. Some states, including Texas, have revised the common-law doctrine, allowing the government to be sued in certain situations. In Texas, principles of governmental immunity are often misconstrued. Which principles of governmental immunity apply to a particular situation in Texas depends on whether the defendant is a state entity or …