AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday struck down a statewide injunction halting child abuse investigations into the parents of transgender youth, while keeping in place a block on the case of one family who sued the state.
In a split ruling on Friday, the court agreed with the state that a lower court could not block all such abuse investigations statewide. But it also noted the governor and attorney general had no authority to order the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services undertake these investigations in the first place.
“Neither the Governor nor the Attorney General has statutory authority to directly control DFPS’s investigatory decisions. They have every right to express their views on DFPS’s decisions and to seek, within the law, to influence those decisions — but DFPS alone bears legal responsibility for its decisions,” the opinion read.
