Judge Tosses Texas Cities from Sunshine Act Suit 7/29/10
Associated Press
July 29, 2010
EL PASO - A federal judge in West Texas has ruled that four Texas cities can't sue that state over its open meetings law.
In the nine-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Junell of Pecos concluded that the cities of Alpine, Pflugerville, Rockport and Wichita Falls can't sue Texas and
Attorney General Greg Abbott to overturn the state law.
The cities and more than a dozen-elected officials sued Abbott and the state last year. They argued that the Texas Open Meetings Act violates the officials' First Amendment rights to free speech by barring elected officials from deliberating in secret.