Attorney General Ken Paxton says he blocked a Travis County Court order that would鈥檝e forced the Texas Workforce Commission to comply with an agreement it made with the developer of a Muslim-oriented housing development.
The agency and the developer, Community Capital Partners, agreed last fall to resolve allegations of fair housing violations against the project. Community Capital Partners sued the Texas Workforce Commission after it sent the commission fair housing policies for the development but didn鈥檛 receive any review or response from the agency according to a press release from the developer.
The court鈥檚 ruling would鈥檝e required the commission to review and respond to the fair housing documents as promised. But Paxton appealed the court鈥檚 ruling with the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, which he said in a press release suspended the decision while the case is ongoing.
鈥淔ollowing my appeal of the flawed ruling that would have required the Texas Workforce Commission to unlawfully approve fair housing documents for EPIC, I am glad to see that the developers will not receive such services as this lawsuit is proceeding,鈥� he said.
The Travis County Court鈥檚 ruling was a temporary injunction 鈥� a short-term order that鈥檚 meant to maintain the status quo while a case is ongoing. Under most circumstances, filing an appeal doesn鈥檛 automatically suspend a temporary injunction.
has reported there鈥檚 an unusual state law that lets the attorney general supersede a state judge鈥檚 order by filing an appeal.
A explains it like this:
"The state鈥檚 option to sidestep a trial court鈥檚 temporary injunction by immediate appeal derives from a complex and unusual set of and . Read together, they provide that, when the state, a state agency, or an agency鈥檚 head files a notice of appeal from an injunction or declaratory judgment, enforcement of that order is suspended automatically pending appeal."
The ongoing dispute with the Texas Workforce Commission is one of many controversies plaguing the proposed Muslim housing community in North Texas 鈥� which is years away from construction. Paxton and other top Texas Republicans have repeatedly targeted the project that鈥檚 now called The Meadow and was once known as EPIC City. Texas officials have accused the development of implementing Sharia Law and creating a no-go zone for non-Muslims, something the developer has repeatedly denied.
Civil rights groups argue the state鈥檚 attacks are religious discrimination. Eric Hudson, a civil rights attorney for Community Capital Partners, said in a press release the state's attacks lack merit.
鈥淔or more than a year, we have seen a synchronized use of state authority directed at one project,鈥� Hudson said. 鈥淒ifferent offices, same objective. And each time the State鈥檚 allegations have been tested through established legal channels, they have failed to produce a merits-based outcome against this project.鈥�
The developer said in a press release it will defend the Travis County court's ruling on appeal and plans to honor fair housing requirements under state and federal law.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
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