This database consolidates and tracks litigation concerning the effect of the pandemic on election law. The purpose of this tool is to provide an interactive list of relevant cases that can be searched by issue, court, status, and jurisdiction.
Case Details
Hotze v. Abbott
Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn (Voluntary withdrawal)
Hotze v. Abbott, No. 4:20-cv-02104 (S.D. Tex.) |
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| Case Summary | Individuals and businesses sued Texas Governor, State of Texas, officers of Department of State Health Services, mayor of Houston, and Houston First corporation alleging that (1) the State Defendants’ unlawful adoption of “contact tracing” to track and monitor daily movements of Texans, including Plaintiffs, violates Plaintiffs’ First Amendment Right to Association, Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures, and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process; (2) the State Defendants’ have unlawfully allowed certain businesses to reopen while forcing other, similar businesses to remain closed in violation of Plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection; and (3) The Houston Defendants have violated Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and assembly and Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection by cancelling the 2020 Texas Republican Convention and related activities. Plaintiffs sought (1) an injunction prohibiting the State Defendants from implementing “contract tracing” of law-abiding Texans, including Plaintiffs; (2) An injunction prohibiting the Houston Defendants from enforcing their cancellation of the 2020 Texas Republican Convention; (3) Declaratory relief that Defendants have violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights; and (4) Monetary damages. | |
| Filed | 06/15/2020 | |
| State | Texas | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Fifth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn (On the agreement of the parties, both TRO and PI were dissolved. All claims are dismissed without prejudice) | |
| Last Updated | 09/01/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Other Cancellation of party conventions |
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| Complaint(s) | 06/15/2020: Complaint, Original Complaint filed. | |
| 07/13/2020: Complaint, First Amended Complaint filed. | ||
| 07/17/2020: Complaint filed. | ||
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 07/19/2020: Order/Ruling, The court preliminarily enjoined closing the venue of the Republican's state convention. The Court found that "the contribution [of the convention] to viral risk is no more than another large grocery store." | |
| 07/22/2020: Order/Ruling, On the agreement of the parties, both the TRO and PI were dissolved. All claims were dismissed without prejudice. | ||
Hotze v. Abbott, No. 20-20379 (5th Cir.) |
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| Case Summary | The state and city defendants filed a joint emergency to stay the district court's preliminary injunction preventing the closure of the convention site pending resolution of the petition for a writ of mandamus. Petitioners argued that the risk of the pandemic spreading would be severe compared to the respondents' harm because the Republican Party state convention was already taking place virtually, which would moot respondents' constitutional claims. Petitioners also argued that they could show a strong likelihood of success because the respondents' claims were not ripe as no speech had been banned, respondents lacked standing, one court had held that Houston First properly exercised its valid contract right to declare an event of force majeure, the district court had no authority to order specific performance of a contract not in front of it, joinder was improper, and that the district court's order was too vague to be enforced. The next day, state and city defendants petitioned for a writ of mandamus, making arguments similar to the emergency stay. | |
| Filed | 07/18/2020 | |
| State | Texas | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Fifth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn (Voluntary withdrawal) | |
| Last Updated | 08/03/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Other Cancellation of party conventions |
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| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 07/22/2020: Other, Parties agree to dissolve the TRO and PI and the case is dismissed. | |
