A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit by the Lubbock-based Texas Home School Coalition (THSC).
In 2014, THSC sued the Texas Ethics Commission and Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell. THSC said in court records the ethics commission reinterpreted state law in such a way as to create an undue burden.
THSC said the new interpretation would treat it like a political action committee even though only 9 percent of its expenditures were political in nature.
At first THSC, the DA’s office and the ethics commission agreed to put the lawsuit on hold because the rules were under further review.
Additionally, THSC filed a lawsuit over this same issue in state court. The state court ruled that THSC lacked standing – in other words, it didn’t have the right to sue. The federal court in Lubbock also found THSC lacked standing.
The federal ruling said that THSC is not a political committee as defined by the ethics commission’s rules. Because the rule does not apply to THSC, then THSC does not have the right to challenge it.
EverythingLubbock.com left a message with THSC to invite comment.