Newsroom
Presumption Problems in Consensual Encounters
Traditionally, the law has divided interactions between citizens and police into three types: consensual encounters, investigative detentions, and arrests. In order to initiate these interactions, police require increasing levels of suspicion of criminal activity, and these distinctions are the basis for differing levels of protections under the Fourth Amendment. A police officer may initiate a consensual encounter even in...Read More
Obergefell, RFRA, and the Texas AG
Yesterday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton published an opinion arguing that state officials are not required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as required by Obergefell v. Hodges if their religious beliefs preclude them from doing so. The problem is that aside from a conclusory invocation of the First Amendment, the apparent source of the religious exemption is the Religious Freedom...Read More
Case Analysis: Smith et al. v. Williams – Evidence of Spoliation
The Sixth Appellate District in Texarkana recently issued its opinion in Smith et al. v. Williams, overturning a $4 million verdict in a trucking accident case in part because of the trial judge’s erroneous ruling on spoliation. In doing so, they significantly raised the burden of proof for spoliation. Simply put, spoliation is when a party destroys or withholds evidence....Read More
Welcome from the Luff Law Firm
Before our firm’s founder Patrick Luff went into practice, he spent several years as a professor of law, publishing a number of scholarly works during that time. Patrick will bring the same thoughtful and thorough analysis to this blog as he regularly updates other lawyers, judges, academics, and the general public on recent developments in Texas and federal law...Read More