Weekly News Round Up Of The State’s Top Law Enforcement Officer – Texas Attorney General

Consumer Alert: IRS Impersonation and Email Scam, Court of Appeals Upholds Voter Fraud Conviction and Religious Liberties Case

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 Announces Bipartisan Fight Against Robocalls

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that he joined a bipartisan group of 40 state attorneys general to stop or reduce irritating and potentially harmful robocalls. This coalition’s mission is to review the technology that major telecom companies are pursuing to combat illegal robocalls made throughout the country.

This coalition is working to develop a detailed understanding of technologically feasible methods to reduce unwanted robocalls and illegal telemarketing, collaborating with major telecom companies to encourage expedition of consumer solutions, and determining what recommendations should be made to the FCC.

“Unwanted phone calls are both a nuisance and an invasion of privacy, and growing robocall scams could cost Texans anywhere from a few dollars to their life savings,” Attorney General Paxton said. “This coalition is dedicated to protecting citizens from these risks and engaging telecom companies in a nationwide effort to put an end to these intrusive calls.”

Since its formation, the multistate group has held in-depth meetings with several major telecom companies, opening channels for greater information sharing about the technological capabilities currently in existence or in development to minimize the reach and impact of robocalls.

This group, led by Attorney General Josh Stein of North Carolina, Attorney General Curtis Hill of Indiana, and Attorney General Gordon MacDonald of New Hampshire, also includes attorneys general from Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

AG Paxton’s Office Obtains Conviction, 55-Year Prison Sentence in Sex Trafficking Case Involving Underage and Adult Victims

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office today announced that a jury found 41-year-old Steven Charles Sumlin guilty on the charge of continuous trafficking of persons, a first-degree felony, for the sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Section Chief Kirsta Melton and Assistant Attorney General Mallory Vincent with the attorney general’s Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime section prosecuted the case for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.

“There is no place for sex trafficking in Texas,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Those who take advantage of vulnerable citizens will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am grateful to our office’s prosecutors, the Bexar County DA’s office, local law enforcement and involved citizens for their efforts on this case. Thankfully, a dangerous criminal has been brought to justice.”

Last year, Sumlin was with his underage victim at a San Antonio gym when alert employees recognized her from a missing person poster and called police. During Sumlin’s trial, evidence showed that he recruited the girl online after she ran away from home, sexually assaulted her, and coerced her into sex trafficking.

In 2015, Sumlin was arrested for aggravated promotion of prostitution as the head of a prostitution ring that was operating in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas.

Attorney General Paxton has made combating human trafficking a top priority. Two years ago, he launched his office’s Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime section, which prosecutes human traffickers across the state. In April, the section’s prosecution of Backpage.com resulted in the company pleading guilty to human trafficking in Texas and its CEO, Carl Ferrer, pleading guilty to money laundering. The attorney general’s office also assisted the U.S. Department of Justice with permanently shutting down the website, which was considered the largest online sex trafficking marketplace in the world.

In January, Attorney General Paxton unveiled a powerful training video to teach Texans how to spot and report suspected human trafficking activity. “Be the One in the Fight Against Human Trafficking” is available for viewing online at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/human-trafficking.

AG Paxton Files Multistate Brief With SCOTUS Supporting Trump Administration’s Order to Phase Out DACA

AUSTIN – Leading a coalition of 10 states, Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting President Trump’s authority to rescind the unlawful Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) progam. DACA unilaterally granted lawful presence and work permits to nearly one million unlawfully-present aliens without congressional authorization.

Last year, President Trump agreed to phase out DACA by March 5 of this year after Attorney General Paxton led a 10-state coalition requesting he do so or face a court challenge. Following several court rulings blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from cancelling DACA, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case.

In May, Attorney General Paxton’s multistate coalition filed for a nationwide preliminary injunction to stop the federal government from issuing or renewing any DACA permits under the unlawful program. In August, a U.S. District Court concluded that DACA is likely illegal, and it confirmed that Texas was likely to win its 10-state lawsuit to end the program. But the court stopped short of issuing an injunction.

“The Trump administration’s decision to wind down DACA is justified because DACA is just as legally flawed as the Obama-era Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which was stopped after Texas led a multistate coalition challenge all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The Department of Justice and the Courts have all indicated that DACA was an illegal program, so it is absurd to claim the President must go through a lengthy rulemaking process in order to stop violating the law.  Activist federal court judges should not stand in the way of President Trump fulfilling his constitutional duty. Left intact, DACA sets a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch the sweeping authority to change our nation’s immigration laws to suit a president’s own policy preferences.”

Texas is joined on the friend-of-the-court brief by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia.

View a copy of the friend-of-the-court brief here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/admin/2018/Press/Amicus%20Brief.pdf

AG Paxton’s Office Defends Federalism at U.S. Supreme Court

AUSTIN – Leading a bipartisan coalition of 36 states, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office today presented a strong case for the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold its longstanding view on states’ authority to prosecute criminals.

For almost two centuries, the Supreme Court has recognized repeatedly that if someone violates state and federal law, both governments can prosecute without violating the U.S. Constitution’s protection against double jeopardy. Lawyers for an Alabama man are asking the high court to overturn its earlier decisions.

During oral arguments in Gamble v. USA, Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins urged the high court to reaffirm the longstanding rule that a single criminal act which breaks both a federal and a state law amounts to two distinct offenses and can result in two separate prosecutions. To rule otherwise would trigger a race to the courthouse between multiple sovereigns eager to vindicate their own criminal laws. Moreover, it would foster mistrust and competition among the states, rather than cooperation – all to the detriment of public safety.

“I’m pleased that Texas had the opportunity to present its side and the views of the vast majority of states before the Supreme Court,” Attorney General Paxton said. “For over 170 years, it’s been understood that if someone violates both state and federal law, both governments can prosecute, but this case threatens to take away states’ sovereignty and deprive the people of those states of their government’s full protection. I’m optimistic that after hearing our strong arguments in the case, the high court will ultimately return a favorable ruling.”

In one of its previous rulings on the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, the Supreme Court concluded that outlawing states from prosecuting someone already tried in federal court “would be a shocking and untoward deprivation of the historic right and obligation of the states to maintain peace and order within their confines.”

When it filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court last month, Texas was joined by 35 other          states – including the 15 most populous – representing, collectively, over 86 percent of the U.S. population: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

View a copy of the friend-of-the-court brief here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/admin/2018/Press/Gamble%20-%20Filed%20Brief%20of%20Texas%20et%20al_.pdf

AG Paxton Praises President Trump’s Nomination of William Barr for U.S. Attorney General

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today commended President Trump’s nomination of former U.S. Attorney General William Barr to lead the Department of Justice again:

“In William Barr, President Trump nominated a highly respected attorney and brilliant legal mind who has demonstrated an unfailing commitment to the rule of law and fidelity to the pursuit of justice,” Attorney General Paxton said. “I’m confident that when he’s confirmed as U.S. Attorney General, Barr will lead the Justice Department with integrity, honor and distinction, just as he did in that role in the early ‘90s under President George H.W. Bush.”

Barr served as attorney general for President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. If confirmed, he would replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned last month. Matthew Whitaker – previously Sessions’ chief of staff at the Justice Department – is currently serving as the interim attorney general.