War Chests Vary Widely in Texas High Court Races

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Two Republican Texas Supreme Court Justices — Don Willett and David Medina — face challengers from their own party in the May 29 primary. An open question for both of their contests: Will the incumbents' campaign war chests, which far exceed the coffers of the challengers' campaigns, play a significant factor in the outcome?

Decision of the Day

Nieto v. State

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(Tex.Crim.App. 05/09/2012)

The court of appeals held that the trial court clearly erred in failing to find that the state's proffered race-neutral reasons for striking all of the black venire members at the appellant's trial were a pretext for racial discrimination. Batson leaves room for the state to exercise peremptory strikes based on a hunch or past experience, as long as racial discrimination is not the motive; this includes the belief, based only on last name, that a venireperson may be related to a former criminal defendant. The court of appeals judgment is reversed and remanded. Court of Criminal Appeals, No. PD-0230-11, 05-09-2012.

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