Weekly News Round Up Of The State’s Top Law Enforcement Officer – Texas Attorney General
The Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes…
Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the State of Texas and is charged by the Texas Constitution to:
- defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas
- represent the State in litigation
- approve public bond issues
To fulfill these responsibilities, the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes.
The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.
Many Texans look to the Office of the Attorney General for guidance with disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls and visits each week about crime victims’ compensation, child support, abuse in nursing homes, possible consumer fraud and other topics. To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.
WEEKLY NEWS ROUND-UP OF THE STATE’S
TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER…
THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL
AG Paxton Files 18-State Brief Urging U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Second Amendment Rights
AUSTIN – Leading a coalition of 18-states, Attorney General Ken Paxton today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Texas case (Mance v. Whitaker) that presents it with the opportunity to confirm that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental individual right and to clarify the appropriate standard for evaluating laws that impact that right.
In a friend-of-the-court brief, Attorney General Paxton told the Supreme Court that governments at all levels have enacted laws eroding the Second Amendment rights of their citizens, and appeals courts—lacking strong guidance from the high court—have allowed them to do so.
Mance v. Whitaker highlights the problem. It challenges the constitutionality of a federal law that prohibits firearms dealers from selling handguns to out-of-state consumers. A U.S. District Court ruled that the ban is unconstitutional, but that decision was overturned by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. When the 5th Circuit denied a request for a rehearing by the full court, seven of the 15 active judges dissented in three separate opinions.
“The Second Amendment stands alongside rights such as freedom of speech and free exercise of religion as a core fundamental right of the American people; it is not a second class or second tier right,” Attorney General Paxton said. “We’re asking the Supreme Court to protect the Second Amendment by reaffirming that it is a fundamental, individual right and providing the guidance necessary to instruct lower courts how to decide cases concerning the right to keep and bear arms.”
In Heller v. District of Columbia, the high court acknowledged that the Second Amendment protects the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms and indicated in its ruling that future decisions would guide lower courts in the scope and application of the Second Amendment. But the Supreme Court hasn’t intervened in a significant Second Amendment case since 2010, recently declining to hear several Second Amendment cases. Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Gorsuch have noted that the lack of intervention by the court “reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right.”
Attorney General Paxton is joined on the brief by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
View a copy of the friend-of-the-court brief here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/admin/2018/Press/18-663%20tsac%20State%20of%20Texas%20et%20al.pdf.
AG Paxton Co-Leads Bipartisan Coalition of 38 Attorneys General Expressing Support for Congressional Action on Criminal Justice
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton and a bipartisan group of 38 attorneys general today sent a letter to U.S. Congressional leaders to fully consider criminal justice reforms like those contained in the FIRST STEP Act.
The letter explains that states have enacted criminal justice reforms similar to those in the FIRST STEP Act to great success. Similar to many state reform efforts, the FIRST STEP Act would create programs that incentivize federal inmates to participate in recidivism-reducing programs including vocational training and academic courses. The bill also puts more tools in the hands of prosecutors, allowing them to seek the most appropriate sentence for an individual’s crimes.
“This legislation provides additional tools and flexibility to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, better equipping our correctional system to ensure that people coming back into our communities are prepared to do so as responsible citizens who do not pose a risk to our communities,” the Attorneys General wrote in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “We believe the FIRST STEP Act contains many helpful reforms and strongly encourage Congress to provide the bill with a full and open debate.”
The FIRST STEP Act enjoys broad support within law enforcement and the criminal justice policy community, and follows the lead Texas has set as a national leader in prison reform since 2007.
Instead of spending billions on new prison beds, Texas closed eight prisons, saving more than $100 million annually, and invested in education programs, job training and apprenticeships. The reforms led to a gradual reversal in the prison system population, and the overall crime rate in Texas has fallen faster than the national average.
Attorney General Paxton co-leads the letter to Congressional leaders with the attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Florida, North Carolina and Utah. Also joining the letter are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
View a copy of the letter here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/admin/2018/Press/Letter%20to%20Congress%20re%20First%20Step%20Act-Final.pdf.
