The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued nine opinions from April 10-16. The Texas Supreme Court issued five opinions from April 10-16. Both courts are the state’s courts of last resort. As of April 16, the court of criminal appeals issued 101 opinions in 2023 — 18 more than this point a year ago. The supreme court issued 34 opinions as of April 16, 2023 — four fewer than this point a year ago. Three of 14 opinions are below:
- TotalEnergies E&P USA, Inc. v. MP Gulf of Mexico, LLC (Opinion), where the court “affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the orders of the trial court granting TotalEnergies E&P USA, Inc.’s motion to stay an American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration and denying MP Gulf of Mexico, LLC’s motion to compel that arbitration, holding that the parties clearly and unmistakably delegated to the AAA arbitrator the decision of whether the parties’ controversy must be resolved by arbitration.”
- ExxonMobil Corp. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA (Opinion), where the court “reversed the judgment of the court of appeals in this insurance dispute, holding that an insurance policy does not incorporate by reference the payout limits in an underlying service agreement.”
- Compton v. Texas (original by judge slaughter), where the court “affirmed the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence of death” for a man convicted of capital murder.
From April 10-16, state supreme courts issued 91 opinions nationally. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the North Dakota Supreme Court issued the most with nine. State supreme courts in 26 states issued the fewest with zero. Courts where judges are elected have issued 48 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 43.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court are the state’s courts of last resort. The former is the state’s court of last resort for criminal matters, while the latter is the state’s court of last resort for civil matters; both have nine judgeships. Sharon Keller and Nathan Hecht are the current chiefs of the criminal and supreme courts, respectively. Combined, the courts issued 413 opinions in 2022 and 536 in 2021. Nationally, state supreme courts issued 7,423 opinions in 2022 and 8,320 in 2021. The courts have issued 1,883 opinions in 2023. Courts where judges are elected have issued 1,029 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 854. Texas is a Republican trifecta, meaning Republicans control the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.
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