The case brought to question whether Doyal, Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and political consultant Marc Davenport violated the TOMA while negotiating details of the November 2015 Montgomery County road bond referendum with the Texas Patriots political action committee.
Doyal filed an appeal in February 2018. The court concluded Feb. 27 the provision was unconstitutionally vague, reversed the judgment and dismissed the prosecution.
The ruling invalidates the specific rule and raises questions about the relationship between free speech rights and government transparency.
"Greater specificity is required when First Amendment freedoms are implicated because uncertain meanings inevitably lead citizens to steer far wider of the unlawful zone than if the boundaries of the forbidden areas are clearly marked,” presiding Judge Sharon Keller wrote in the court's majority opinion. Two of the nine justices that sit on the court dissented, according to a Senate newsletter.
State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, tweeted this could be cause for concern.
I'm still reviewing the opinion, but I think the Legislature needs to address this issue this session. This is a matter of high importance because members of the public need to be able to trust that decisions are being made in the open, not behind closed doors. #txlege https://t.co/0xeW7w16ci
— Senator Kirk Watson (@KirkPWatson) February 27, 2019
The deadline for filing legislation for the current session is this Friday, March 8th.
Read the full court document here.
