Another week, another federal court case. That's seemingly been the mantra for Texans in recent years, as the state continues to fight several high-profile legal battles over contentious issues. Texas is a party to at least eight cases now pending in federal courts, over issues like voter ID, sanctuary cities, abortion, and political maps.
KTRH legal analyst Chris Tritico believes this is the continuation of a trend that started in recent years with the state initiating legal action over political issues. "During the Obama Administration, the Texas Attorney General--who is now our governor--took great pride in suing the federal government at every chance he got," he says. "Today, you see states like California doing to the Trump Administration what Texas was doing to the Obama Administration, so this trend hasn't ended, it's just shifted with the political winds."
Tritico believes that the trend of fighting political battles through the legal system will only continue to grow, and on a bipartisan basis. "It's become the new political battlefield, if you will, for state attorneys general to sue the president of the opposing party to make their political points," he says.
For many voters, what is most frustrating about these legal battles is how costly and lengthy they can be. For instance, the legal challenge to Texas' voting maps has been playing out in the courts for six years now. Tritico believes there is good reason these cases often take so long to resolve. "They're not answering a legal question, but instead you're asking them to answer a political question that they really don't want to get involved in," says Tritico.
As frustrating as all of this legal activity might be for voters, they do ultimately have a say in it. "What I would tell every taxpayer is think about this at the ballot box," says Tritico. "Republican or Democrat, is this the way you want your state run?"