Texas’ Business Probing Tool Unlawful, Federal Court Finds

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) can’t use a 100-plus year old tool to investigate businesses and organizations he suspects violated state laws, a federal judge ruled Monday, adopting a magistrate judge’s recommendation.

In striking down Texas’s Request to Examine statute, Judge Robert Pitman of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas overruled Paxton’s objection to the recommendation.

• Magistrate Judge Mark Lane ruled at an October hearing that the statute is unconstitutional because it forces an entity to turn over records before it has a chance to ask a judge if it must comply.
• Paxton served a ...