By: Ryan Poppe, Texas Public Radio News
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has asked the Travis County Judge overseeing the lawsuit against the state’s school finance system to recuse himself from the case. Texas Public Radio’s Ryan Poppe reports the problem stems from a series of emails between the judge and attorneys representing the school districts.
TRAVIS COUNTY: In February of this year Travis County District Judge John Dietz heard final arguments and began deciding a final verdict on school finance in Texas. In a case that is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court, Dietz is taking his time on the final decision.
But between March and May, as both sides awaited the final official ruling, attorneys for the school districts sent emails to Judge Dietz to try and get a feel for which way he was leaning on the decision. While this is a common legal inquiry, the attorneys did not copy the state, who were made aware of the emails in mid-May.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said that the emails discussed the merits of the case without the state’s knowledge and has affected Deitz’s ability to make an un-biased decision.
Attorney David Hinojosa with the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund represents some of the school districts and called Abbott’s motion a stall tactic to further delay the ruling.
David Hinojosa: “When you don’t have a lot of evidence to support your case you file a bunch of evidence and that’s what we see the state doing”
Judge Dietz has declined the motion to recuse himself and denies allegations of bias.
Dietz made a bench ruling in 2013, finding the Texas school finance system unconstitutional because of the $5.4-billion dollars cut from schools in 2011. Lawmakers restored $3.4 billion of those cuts in the 2013 session. RP TPR News]
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