EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s voter registration organization has gained another victory in its ongoing legal battle with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Friday, Sept. 12 to lift a temporary restraining order placed by a Tarrant County district court against O’Rourke and his organization, Powered by People. That order had prevented O’Rourke’s organization from fund-raising and doing other activities.
The appeals court judges — all picked by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — also said that Paxton offered “little evidence” to go after Powered by People in the first place and that “it is far from clear” that there was any unlawful conduct.
This is the second time that the Fifteenth Court of Appeals has ruled against Paxton in the Powered by People’s case. The Texas Supreme Court also ruled against Paxton in this case last month.
Back on Aug. 8, Paxton sued O’Rourke and his organization, Powered by People, alleging unlawful fundraising activity.
Paxton called O’Rourke’s organization “radical” and alleged that it is potentially operating a “misleading financial influence scheme to fund runaway Democrats who fled Texas to break quorum” during this summer’s dispute over redistricting.
The Republican-sponsored redistricting map, which was the original basis for this legal dispute, has since been passed by the state Legislature.
Paxton has also been seeking to revoke the charter for O’Rourke’s organization.
Friday, Powered by People reported that the Fifteenth Court of Appeals ordered that a temporary restraining order against O’Rourke and his voter registration organization be halted.
“Today’s unanimous order by state appeals court judges — who were hand-picked by Greg Abbott — states that, ‘in their motion for emergency relief, (Powered by People and O’Rourke) assert that the trial court’s modified TRO violates their rights to free speech under the Texas Constitution and the United States Constitution and must be vacated for that reason. We agree,'” the news release sent out by O’Rourke’s organization said.
The appeals court added that, “on its face, the temporary restraining order is a prior restraint on (Powered by People and O’Rourke’s) political expression” and that while tools, whether legal or political, for eliminating quorum breaks may exist, “our Texan founding fathers — like our American founding fathers — took prior restraints on political speech out of the tool kit when they enshrined the right to free speech in our Constitution,” Powered by People said.
Friday’s order can be read here.
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