Ken Paxton Defies Courts in Criminal Scheme to Disenfranchise Latino Voters in Texas [View all]

[B.See]

Paxton Caught TARGETING Voters as SENATE BID COLLAPSES!!! - Youtube

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian cover Texas AG Ken Paxton's voter intimidation campaign targeting Latino communities while he runs for U.S. Senate. Paxton's office has raided homes of elderly activists, Democratic candidates, and elected officials, seizing phones and computers. One target: an 87-year-old volunteer interrogated at 6 a.m. He sued Jolt Initiative, a Latino civic engagement nonprofit, to dissolve its charter for registering voters. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled Paxton acted in "bad faith," finding the case "supposes absolutely no wrongdoing." A Texas law even criminalized paying volunteers gas money or helping elderly voters fill out ballots. Brian and Shant walk through the legal problems: disparate impact on a protected class, retaliation for First Amendment activity, and equal protection violations. The chilling effect is the point. If Paxton wins, this becomes the model for every state.

Lawyers outraged as Ken Paxton runs immigration scheme during Senate bid - Rawstory via MSN

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian discussed a recent New York Times report on Paxton's efforts to disrupt Latino voting groups in Texas in a new episode of their podcast, "Civil Action." That scheme included criminalizing acts such as providing stipends to volunteers to drive elderly and disabled voters to the polls, and investigating people who run organizations that offer bilingual voter registration services.

They described Paxton's efforts as a "clear First Amendment violation," given that the state passed a law criminalizing acts such as volunteering to help the elderly and disabled complete their voter registration paperwork.

Kabateck noted that a federal court found the scheme illegal in late January, but Paxton appears to have taken a page from the Trump playbook and defied the order.