Texas Political Cases Shift to New GOP-Backed Appeals Court

A Texas decision on marijuana enforcement has moved to the state’s newest Republican judges from Austin’s Democrats. So, too, has a decision on investigating groups that assist transgender children.

Texas’s newest appeals court opened for business Sunday, with 90 cases of state importance before it, transferred from other appeals courts across the state. More than half came from the Third Court of Appeals in Austin.

The decisions to flow from its GOP justices will reverberate across all 254 counties. Unlike other intermediary appeals courts with jurisdiction over certain geographical regions, the 15th Court of Appeals will have a broader reach—deciding ...