Texas Appeals Court Faces First Test Before Hearing Any Cases

Texas’s new appeals court hasn’t heard a single case yet, but its authority is already on the line.

The state is trying to stand up a new appeals court for the first time in almost 60 years to bring the state’s complex business issues and thorny legislative matters before a panel of judges selected by Texas’s Republican governor, as the state’s appeals court in Austin has become more progressive. With a Sept. 1 start date, the court is different from the 14 regional appeals courts in that it will hear all cases involving state matters originating anywhere in Texas.

That ...