Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of December 1, 2014

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

State of Texas v. Valerie Saxion, Inc., No. 02-13-00227-CV (Dec. 4, 2014) (McCoy, J., joined by Dauphinot and Walker, JJ.).

Held: Appellee is not a "media defendant" under civil practice and remedies code section 51.014(a)(6) and so is not entitled to bring an interlocutory cross-appeal on her counterclaims and affirmative defenses. The State is entitled to relief on its plea to the jurisdiction on Appellee's free exercise and federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) claims because Appellee failed to allege a valid ultra vires claim against a state official and the federal RFRA is inapplicable to state governmental action.