The Texas Supreme Court should grant Relator’s petition for mandamus because common law requires cities to adopt ballot language for a proposed ordinance that accurately identifies the measure’s chief features, character, and purpose. The municipal efficiency study is modeled on Ronald Reagan’s California Commission and Grace Commission, which sought to improve state government and federal government by conducting a thorough analysis of government operations and making specific efficiency and enhancement recommendations. By referring to the existing city and external auditors, and by including a speculative cost estimate, Austin affirmatively misrepresents the more comprehensive features, character, and purpose of the efficiency study. Accordingly, the Court should grant Relator’s petition for mandamus, and require Austin to adopt ballot language that complies with the common law standard.
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High Stakes Machine Gun Case Could Finally Settle Decades-Long Constitutional Battle
In Federalist 51, James Madison recognized the “great difficulty” of self-governance: “[Y]ou must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” The Gun Control Act has controlled the governed — us — and Americans’ access to a range of weapons. But has Congress’ approach to machine...
April 29, 2026