It appeared likely that the federal lawsuit against Llano County would be returning to the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin after a divided decision last month in an appellate court; however, the U.S. Supreme Court could be the location of the next hearing if the plaintiffs succeed with a petition they plan to file.
In a 10-7 opinion handed down on May 23, a majority of justices for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed an earlier decision and sided with Llano County. The next step would be for the case to be returned to the lower federal court but the case has been temporarily halted pending the highest court’s decision.
“On May 27, the court ordered the parties to file a joint status report apprising the court of the parties’ live claims and anticipated next procedural steps, in light of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling reversing the preliminary injunction and dismissing plaintiffs’ Free Speech claims,” according to a joint status report filed on June 17. “Plaintiffs intend to file a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion to stay discovery and further proceedings in this court pending resolution of plaintiffs’ petition for writ of certiorari. All parties agree that the requested stay is necessary to prevent prejudice to either plaintiffs or defendants and to avoid the waste of judicial resources. Consequently, all parties request that the court grant plaintiffs’ unopposed motion to stay proceedings.”
