Judge Removed in Case Against Conservative Activist
A visiting judge has ordered the removal of the current judge overseeing conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan's challenge against the Texas Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission ruled last summer that Sullivan had failed to register as a lobbyist in 2010 and 2011. Sullivan is challenging that determination in court, and Judge Steve Burgess of the 158th District Court in Denton County had been presiding.
But visiting Judge Jeff Walker ruled on Tuesday that the challenge must be reassigned to a new judge. His ruling follows the Ethics Commission's allegations that Burgess wasn’t impartial, in part because he followed Sullivan on Twitter.
It may not be a simple switch.
Burgess had already signed one order ruling that Sullivan was allowed to claim residency in Denton County. State law allows for an Ethics Commission appeal to be filed in Travis County or the county in which the respondent resides. Sullivan announced that he was moving to Denton County a day before filing his appeal.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/05/judge-removed-ethics-case-against-conservative-act/
