Top Texas Court Sued Over Case Delay: We Want a Decision, Says Lawyer
After waiting more than four years for a ruling in an interlocutory appeal before the Texas Supreme Court, the plaintiffs in a class action case have made a federal case out of the delay.
They have sued the court’s nine justices individually in in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, contending that their constitutional right to due process is being impaired, reports Texas Lawyer.
“In effect, Plaintiffs are stuck in a black hole with the inability to appeal their constitutional deprivation to the United States Supreme Court while they are frozen in an interlocutory appeal,” says the suit filed by Marketing on Hold Inc. and the Harris County Hospital District.
“We want a decision,” says Thomas Bray, a Houston solo. He represents Marketing on Hold, which does business as Southwestern Tariff Analyst.
According to Bray and the complaint, the plaintiffs aren’t seeking a writ of mandamus or injunctive relief, but want a declaratory judgment that their constitutional rights are being violated by the ongoing delay.
The state supreme court’s chief justice declined to comment, since the litigation involves a pending case before his court.
The underlying state-court class action suit concerns fees charged to business customers by Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
