Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought should happen if school districts are found to have illegally engaged in electioneering. You'll find the answers below.

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

‘Speech Police’ to Target Texans' Social Media Posts

• A new rule being considered by the Texas Ethics Commission would have the commission policing the social media posts of citizens, an action experts have said will chill political speech with the threat of costly and arduous enforcement. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• While this move is ostensibly designed to go after “paid influencers” who receive compensation for political social media posts, in reality the rule would open up the commission to policing the social media accounts of every citizen.
       

• Of particular concern is the broad phrase “in return for consideration.” Under this framework, a simple retweet from an elected official could place social media users in the crosshairs of the TEC, an expensive and draining process that has turned citizens away from political engagement. 
      

• “The TEC leadership has confessed that their closed door enforcement proceedings cause a chilling effect on regular citizens’ speech,” said Tony McDonald, an attorney who specializes in campaign finance law. “This is not aimed at big political actors, who have lawyers. It’s aimed exclusively at the little guy who spends almost nothing. The TEC is evil. The rule is evil. And the results will be evil.”
      

• While the commission did not set a timeline for when they would consider giving final approval to the rule, it could be as soon as their next meeting in June. 

Report: 189,000 Illegal Alien Encounters in March

• Although official border numbers for March are not expected until the middle of the month, Emily Medeiros reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection source shared data that shows there were more than 189,000 encounters at the southwest border.
       
• If accurate, this number is equivalent to the population of Brownsville (189,382).
       
• This marks a decline from the past two years of March numbers under the Biden administration: 193,249 in 2023 and 222,574 in 2022.

Biden Administration Launches New Gun-grabbing Scheme

• In an attempt to avert due process and confiscate guns from citizens deemed a threat, the Biden administration recently launched the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center. The center will provide law enforcement, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, and others with training and technical assistance to “keep guns out of the hands of people" who it is claimed "pose a threat to themselves or others.”
       
• "The Biden administration is hell-bent on shredding our rights protected by the Second Amendment." – Chris McNutt, Texas Gun Rights
       
• "The implementation of Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Centers by the Biden administration is yet another example of a rogue government that is trampling on the inalienable rights of American citizens." – Wes Virdell, Gun Owners of America

Free-Speech Lawsuit Against U.T. Brings Back Allegations of Nepotism

• A slew of additional allegations are coming to light in Professor Richard Lowery’s free speech lawsuit against UT-Austin, including accusations of nepotism against UT President Jay Hartzell. Adam Cahn has the story.
   
• Lowery is a tenured professor at McCombs School of Business. He alleges three administrators stifled his first amendment rights by retaliating against him for public comments critical of university policies.
     
• Specifically, Lowery has been critical of the cost of the university’s ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ bureaucracy. A conservative estimate suggests the cost of the DEI bureaucracy has been at least $13 million.
      
• Charges of interference by the university president in admissions decisions have an ignominious history at UT-Austin. In 2013, it came to light that disgraced former university president William Powers was running a secret admissions program for prominent legislators and power brokers across the state of Texas. 

Citizen-Led Library Book Review Policy Announced in Montgomery

• Montgomery County officials have adopted a new policy for reviewing public library books that puts citizens in charge of determining what is appropriate for children and young adults. Erin Anderson reports a panel of citizens appointed by county commissioners will review titles in the children’s and young adult sections of county libraries if flagged as inappropriate by residents.

       
• The new committee must complete a review within one month of residents’ requests, and library staff must carry out the committee’s decisions within 14 days. Books will be moved to the adult section during the review period.

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Quote-Unquote

"A man's rights rest in three boxes. The ballot box, jury box, and the cartridge box."

– Frederick Douglass​

Y'All Answered

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed civil suits against nearly a dozen school districts for their illegal electioneering during the 2024 primary season because the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals blocked his office's ability to prosecute such cases. Since then, voters have begun filing criminal complaints with their local district attorneys.

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought should happen to school districts found to have illegally engaged in electioneering.

Here is a sampling of the responses...

• “Why take recess away from the whole class because of a couple of bad actors? A little jail time and loss of job would probably stifle these illegal actions by others.” – Tobie Hall
      

• “The public school districts are tasked with just one agenda, teach our children!! They should not be a paid political arm of either party, if caught doing so should be punished accordingly.” – Greg Burr
      

• “They need to understand that what they have done is not ok, and maybe with them going to jail it will teach them a lesson. And it’ll hopefully never happen again.” – Kathy Hernandez
      

• “If there are never any consequences for the crime, then the acts will continue.  At some point you have to set examples of the wrong doers.” – Manuel Blanco
      

• “The loss of state funding hurts the students as does the jailing of school personnel. The schools are already lacking personnel. I think a stiff financial penalty for the persons directly engaged in electioneering would be a much stronger deterrent.” – Evelyn Montalvo
      

• “Without the threat of losing funding, school boards will NOT police the administration.  The administration has already proven that it cannot keep itself within the law.” – Arthur Potter
      

• “The recurrent theme of 'No consequences for bad behavior' is why we are in such a mess as it is. All responsible parties should be decisively punished.” – Tara Souther
       

• “Breaking the law is breaking the law, it’s time for the elitists (socialists) to suffer the consequences for their efforts to undermine the citizens of this great state!” – Ken Bintliff
     

• “If you break the law you pay a price. Only until a deterrence is enforced will lawbreakers think twice about breaking laws.” – Kathy Lane
     

• “Job losses for those employees involved, at a minimum.” – Gene Glass
      

• “This sort of behavior happens in most schools in Texas. I was a Maintenance Director for a School District for 11 years. Every election season, teachers and staff would be gathered together and told whom to vote for; we were told this would make more money for the district.” – Gene Klutts
      

• “Why should the school lose funding for his behavior. Sending him to jail would be a long drawn out expensive process. Fire him and cancel his administration certification.” – Angela Hairston
     

• “Withholding funding punishes the students. Jail time isn't the answer either. I think they should be fined and fired, and prevented from serving in any capacity in any other school in Texas, ever. That sends a message to other school administrators.” – Karen Coombes
     

• “School administrators using public school resources for the purpose of electioneering should be subject to the same punishments as any one guilty of election fraud or interference which should include jail time and fines where appropriate.  Ultimately, it’s teachers unions who would benefit from this type of criminal behavior so perhaps fines should be levied against school district teachers’ representatives!” – M. D. Edinburgh
      

• “Until public officials- including teachers and school administrators-start going to prison for breaking the law, nothing will change.” – Catherine Buschold
      

• “I answered BOTH.  Anything less will not get their attention to the seriousness of their actions!” – Dennis Scharp
      

• “If found guilty, then there needs to be consequences for electioneering. If there are no consequences, then they will just keep doing it. Punish the wrong doers with jail time but don't punish the school (cut funding) because of some bad actors.” – Randall Woodman
      

• “I voted both because it is about time administrators and school systems were held accountable for not following state laws. It always seems like they are not held accountable or receive a slap on the wrist. Jail time and loss of funding should send the message.” – Ashton Oravetz, III
     

• “Hit ‘em where it hurts most! Withhold state funding and arrest the administrators/employees who engaged in these illegal election activities! Publicly funded school districts need to remain neutral in elections.” – Dana Krasinski

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