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Appeals court dismisses Rick Perry's criminal case
[Statesman] The state's top criminal court on Wednesday threw out the remaining criminal charge against Rick Perry, sparing the former governor from trial and a potential prison sentence on a felony charge of misusing the power of his office.a political hit via Travis County Democrats The charge, related to Perry's 2013 threat to veto money for Travis County prosecutors in an attempt to force "The constitution does not purport to impose any restriction on the veto power based on the reason for the veto, and it does not purport to allow any other substantive limitations to be placed on the use of a veto," said the opinion by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller. The state's highest criminal court ordered the remaining criminal charge against Rick Perry to be dropped Wednesday. The damage is done "The governor's power to exercise a veto may not be circumscribed by the Legislature, by the courts, or by district attorneys," Keller wrote. "When the only act that is being prosecuted is a veto, then the prosecution itself violates separation of powers." The court also spared Perry from a second felony charge of coercion of a public official, ruling that a lower court correctly tossed out the law last summer as unconstitutionally vague and a violation of free speech rights. "And General Dickishness" Posted by: Frank G 2016-02-24 |
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