I wrote previously about Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott engaging in frivolous defenses and frivolous lawsuits. See my posts here and here. Well, now a Travis County Judge has found AG Abbott’s opinion about the VIA Transit center to also "border on the frivolous." See San Antonio Express News report. The issue concerns a request by VIA to issue bonds to build a transit center, which would serve passengers of buses and a proposed streetcar system. AG Abbott had earlier issued an opinion that VIA could not issue the bond because San Antonio voters had voted against using VIA funds for light rail. VIA has been arguing that streetcars and light rail are not the same thing. The transit system argues it can use the funds since the prior vote by San Antonio citizens did not concern a streetcar system.
As noted by Judge Yelenosky, AG Abbott issued his opinion based on no evidence regarding the difference between light rail and streetcars. That is why the judge suggested the head lawyer for the state of Texas’ opinion was frivolous. In fact, the AG presented no evidence at the Jan. 23 hearing regarding the differences, if any, between light rail and streetcars. VIA presented a few witnesses on that critical topic. In the lawsuit business, when a party fails to introduce evidence on a critical subject, that indicates many things, among them that there are no witnesses on that subject. The AG should have simply conceded the point if he could not locate supportive witnesses.
So, yes, it is frivolous to issue an opinion with no apparent evidence. The Attorney General’s opinion was based more on politics than on the law. Again.