Court rejects Texas AG Ken Paxton’s bid to dismiss ethics complaint

DALLAS — Ruling against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a state appeals court declined to dismiss a State Bar of Texas ethics complaint accusing Paxton of dishonesty when he sought to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeats in four swing states.

Paxton argued that he couldn’t be sued by the state bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline because he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court as part of his official duties.

In a 2-1 ruling, the Dallas-based 5th Court of Appeals disagreed, saying the commission’s lawsuit accused Paxton of violating the state’s code of ethics, which bars lawyers from conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.”

Paxton was sued “in his capacity as a Texas-licensed lawyer and an officer of the legal system” that subjects him to discipline if he fails to meet that system’s standards, Justice Erin A. Nowell wrote in an opinion joined by Justice Nancy Kennedy.

—The Dallas Morning News

Hochul, Adams vow crackdown on illicit NYC cannabis shops

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams celebrated Friday after securing tools in the state budget to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops, and offered a blunt message to the illicit sellers: City and state authorities are coming after them.

“This is your warning,” declared Adams, carrying a padlock at a joint news conference with Hochul in Midtown Manhattan. “You will be locked out if you attempt to continue to sell illegal items.”

Hochul vowed the city’s sprawling gray market of cannabis shops would face a “reckoning,” saying that illegal shops had correctly assessed they would largely face consequences for flouting the state’s cannabis retailing laws.

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