Ken Paxton on Texas Appeals Journalhttps://texasappeals.org/topics/ken-paxton/Clinical descriptions of the Texas appellate decisions drawing the most press coverage.Hugo -- gohugo.ioen-usMon, 29 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0500Fifth Circuit Stays Preliminary Injunctions Against Texas App Store Accountability Act Pending Appealhttps://texasappeals.org/2026/06/seat-v-paxton-app-store-age-law/Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2026/06/seat-v-paxton-app-store-age-law/In a published per curiam order, the court granted Texas’s motion to stay two universal preliminary injunctions against Senate Bill 2420 while the State’s appeals proceed. The panel concluded that Texas is likely to show the district court erred by applying strict scrutiny and by enjoining enforcement against anyone, but the order does not decide the merits of the appeals.Fifteenth Court of Appeals Affirms Temporary Injunction Against Attorney General’s Prosecutor-Reporting Rules as to Named Plaintiffs, Reverses It as to Nonpartieshttps://texasappeals.org/2026/01/paxton-v-garza-local-prosecutors/Mon, 05 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2026/01/paxton-v-garza-local-prosecutors/The court held that Section 41.006 of the Government Code does not confer rulemaking authority on the Attorney General, so the suing prosecutors showed a probable right to relief against rules requiring reports from large-county district and county attorneys. It limited the injunction to the named plaintiffs and remanded.Supreme Court of the United States Holds Texas Age-Verification Law for Sexually Explicit Websites Is Subject to, and Survives, Intermediate Scrutinyhttps://texasappeals.org/2025/07/free-speech-coalition-v-paxton-age-verification/Mon, 14 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2025/07/free-speech-coalition-v-paxton-age-verification/The Court held that H.B. 1181, which requires certain commercial websites publishing content that is obscene to minors to verify that visitors are adults, only incidentally burdens adults’ protected speech, triggers intermediate scrutiny rather than strict scrutiny, and satisfies that standard. Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, dissented.Court of Criminal Appeals Vacates Travis County Restraining Order That Had Blocked Robert Roberson’s Executionhttps://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-tdcj-ex-rel-paxton-roberson-subpoena/Mon, 11 Nov 2024 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-tdcj-ex-rel-paxton-roberson-subpoena/In a per curiam opinion, the court held that a district court’s temporary restraining order enjoining the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from carrying out a death warrant had the effect of staying a scheduled execution and was subject to the court’s mandamus authority. The court vacated the order itself. Four judges dissented.Supreme Court of Texas Denies State’s Emergency Mandamus Petition Over State Fair Handgun Policyhttps://texasappeals.org/2024/10/in-re-state-state-fair-handgun-ban/Mon, 07 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2024/10/in-re-state-state-fair-handgun-ban/The court denied the State’s petition for writ of mandamus and its emergency motion for temporary relief in an order that gives no reasons. A three-justice concurrence stated that the State had not argued that Texas law obligates the privately operated State Fair to allow handguns.