Texas affirms indictment against DeLay ally News
Texas affirms indictment against DeLay ally

[JURIST] Texas District Judge Robert Perkins [official website] Tuesday reaffirmed an indictment for violations of a state law regarding corporate campaign contributions against an ally of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). John Colyandro, executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority [Wikipedia backgrounder], was indicted last September on charges of illegally collecting campaign money. The court rejected defense arguments that the ban was vague and unconstitutional. A civil ruling in May upheld the law and ordered the group's treasurer [Washington Post report] to pay damages to defeated candidates. Judge Perkins also indicated a likely dismissal of a similar motion by defense lawyers next month in another criminal case related to the group. The Washington Post has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.