Court dismisses Empower Texans' lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday tossed out a civil rights lawsuit filed by Empower Texans, saying the prominent Tea Party group had not demonstrated a credible fear of prosecution stemming from tactics it used in a closely watched Texas House race.
The group had asked for a temporary restraining order to stop three state DAs and the attorney general from launching any criminal probes into the strategy it used to attack state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, in his GOP primary against businessman Bo French. A voter who filed a complaint with the Travis County district attorney’s office claimed the advertisement may have violated a law prohibiting people from posing as government officials, under Section 37.11 of the Texas Penal Code.
In his ruling Friday from Midland, U.S. District Judge David Counts said no party to the lawsuit could demonstrate that the provision had ever been used against political groups. And in this case, he said, Empower Texans had not shown that the Travis County DA’s office has done anything more than review the voter's complaint.
“To argue that a district attorney’s review of a citizen’s complaint is indicative of a threat of enforcement is nothing more than speculation,” Counts wrote. “Such speculation does not create an irreparable injury that is both great and immediate.”
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/16/court-dismisses-empower-texans-lawsuit/