The Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that the San Antonio Justice Charter, also known as Proposition A, will remain as one ballot item in the May 6 municipal election.
The ruling came after anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life filed an emergency writ of mandamus in mid-February. The group argued Proposition A should be broken up into multiple city charter amendments because it contains a range of policy reforms, including the decriminalization of abortion and marijuana possession.
They said it’s a violation of state law because it’s illegal for city charter amendments to contain multiple subjects. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief in support of the effort
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s ruling said they denied Texas Alliance for Life’s petition because they had a “longstanding commitment to avoid undue interference with elections.”
Despite not breaking up Prop A before the municipal election, the court’s ruling said a potential future post-election challenge could still affect Prop A if it were passed.
In response to the Texas Supreme Court’s decision, Texas Alliance for Life’s Communications Director Amy O’Donnell released a statement.
“We are tremendously disappointed in the Texas Supreme Court's decision to allow the San Antonio Proposition A charter amendment to remain on the May 6 ballot, despite obvious violations of state law," O’Donnell said in the statement. "We raised significant reasons in our briefs on how Prop A violates voter's rights."
She added in the statement that Texas Alliance for Life would now turn to organizing voters against Prop A in the election.
In a statement released by Ground Game Texas and ACT4SA, Ground Game Texas’ political director and general counsel Mike Siegel said the court’s decision safeguarded democracy.
“Direct democracy is a principle at the foundation of our society, and the Court’s decision protects that principle,” he said. “The people of San Antonio have a constitutional right to amend their city charter and pass much-needed criminal justice reform. We look forward to putting this groundbreaking initiative in front of the people of San Antonio this May.”
Prop A would deprioritize enforcement of abortion and low-level marijuana crimes, expand and codify the county’s cite-and-release program, ban no-knock warrants and police chokeholds, and appoint a city Justice Director to oversee city justice policy, though the city attorney has said only the Justice Director position is enforceable.
