Friday, January 27, 2017

SCOTX Bails Out UT with Legal Absurdity....


"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."
1 Peter 5:6

But of course....
The court ruled Friday that Hall had no standing to sue the chancellor of the system he oversees. That likely brings an end to Hall’s last high-profile fight on the UT System board.

Hall had been seeking access to confidential student records. But Chancellor Bill McRaven had state authority to deny it, the court ruled. And since the state has immunity from most lawsuits filed in state court, Hall couldn’t sue, the court ruled.

Still, as Justice John Devine wrote in his opinion affirming McRaven’s victory, the court is “not unsympathetic to Hall’s plight.”

“He seeks information to educate himself and his fellow regents about issues of undeniable importance to the institution,” Devine wrote. “Facts are the greatest ally of those, like Hall, who seek to change the minds of others.”

But Devine said the court is “at the mercy” of the decision made by McRaven.

“Perhaps that scheme is unwise. Perhaps it elevates the status quo above transparency. Perhaps it increases the likelihood that voices in the minority will be stifled. And perhaps it presents none of those dangers,” he wrote.

“But those questions are beyond our reach; the Legislature is the ultimate arbiter of policy at the University of Texas.”
On the other hand, the fact that the Justices had to resort to a farce like 'sovereign immunity' to create this ex post facto justification for the U.T. politburo is a small victory in and of itself; learn more about the history of 'sovereign immunity' in Texas here.

It just is what it is; we will leave Governor FoxNews Abbott, Chancellor McRaven, President Fenves, and the soon-to-be reconfigured Board with one piece of unsolicited advice (which they won't follow): Tread carefully in victory.

Bottom Line: This case has always been, and remains, dirty politics on the level of House of Cards.  That it will end with a John Roberts/Obamacare style chickenshit rationalization for a predetermined political outcome is, in it's own way, fitting.  But nothing that happened this week changes the fact that both the campus culture and the economic foundation at the University of Texas are unsustainable over the long run....

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.