By: Middleton S.B. No. 2574
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to preserving religious liberty from nativist
jurisprudence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Protection of
Religious Liberty from Nativist Jurisprudence Act.
SECTION 2. Title 5, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 110A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 110A. PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 110A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Blaine amendments" means:
(A) Section 7, Article I, Texas Constitution; and
(B) the third sentence of Section 5(c), Article
VII, Texas Constitution.
(2) "Governmental officer or employee" means an
officer or employee of this state or a political subdivision. The
term includes a member of the board of trustees of a school district
and a teacher, principal, administrator, or other individual
employed by a school district.
SUBCHAPTER B. PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Sec. 110A.051. ENFORCEMENT OF BLAINE AMENDMENTS. A
governmental officer or employee may not enforce the Blaine
amendments unless the United States Supreme Court overrules Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Carson v. Makin
Sec. 110A.052. ENFORCEMENT OF ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE. Except
as provided by Section 110A.053, a governmental officer or employee
may not enforce the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of
the United States Constitution against any person other than the
federal government, its officers, or its instrumentalities.
Sec. 110A.053. EXCEPTIONS. Notwithstanding Section
110A.052, a governmental officer or employee may enforce the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States
Constitution if necessary to comply with:
(1) a judgment or decree entered by a court against
that specific officer or employee, the officer's or employee's
superiors, or the entity that employs the officer or employee; or
(2) a directly-on-point ruling from the United States
Supreme Court or the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit if there are no reasonable grounds for distinguishing that
ruling factually or legally from the basis for the officer's or
employee's enforcement action.
Sec. 110A.054. REMEDIES. (a) Any person injured or
adversely affected by a violation of this chapter has standing to
bring and may bring a civil action in any court of this state
against any governmental officer or employee who violates this
chapter.
(b) On a finding that the defendant has violated or is
violating this chapter, the court in an action brought under this
section shall award:
(1) declaratory relief;
(2) injunctive relief;
(3) nominal or compensatory damages; and
(4) court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a person may bring an
action under this section not later than the sixth anniversary of
the date the cause of action accrues.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a defendant in an action
brought under this section may not assert and is not entitled to
sovereign immunity, governmental immunity, official immunity, or
qualified immunity.
Sec. 110A.055. ATTORNEY'S FEES FOR ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, any
person, including an entity, attorney, or law firm, that brings an
action to enforce the Blaine amendments or the Establishment Clause
of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution against
any person in this state in any state or federal court or that
represents a litigant seeking such relief in any state or federal
court is jointly and severally liable for the court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees of the party against whom such relief is
sought if that party prevails, including the court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees the prevailing party incurs to recover
court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
(b) A party is considered to prevail under Subsection (a)
if:
(1) a state or federal court dismisses any claim or
cause of action described by Subsection (a) against the party,
regardless of the reason for the dismissal;
(2) a state or federal court enters judgment in the
party's favor on a claim or cause of action described by Subsection
(a); or
(3) another party that seeks declaratory or injunctive
relief described by Subsection (a) voluntarily dismisses or
nonsuits its claims against the prevailing party under any law,
including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Texas Rules
of Civil Procedure.
(c) A prevailing party under this section may recover court
costs and reasonable attorney's fees under this section only to the
extent those court costs and reasonable attorney's fees were
incurred while defending claims or causes of action on which the
party prevailed.
Sec. 110A.056. IMMUNITIES PRESERVED. (a) Subject to
Subsection (b) but notwithstanding any other law, the state has
sovereign immunity, a political subdivision has governmental
immunity, and an officer, employee, or agent of this state or a
political subdivision has official immunity, as well as sovereign
or governmental immunity, as appropriate, in any action, claim,
counterclaim, or any type of legal or equitable action that:
(1) challenges the validity of a provision or
application of this chapter, on constitutional grounds or
otherwise; or
(2) seeks to prevent or enjoin the state, a political
subdivision, or an officer, employee, or agent of this state or a
political subdivision from:
(A) enforcing a provision or application of this
chapter; or
(B) hearing, adjudicating, or docketing an
action brought under Section 110A.054 or 110A.055.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to the extent that
immunity has been abrogated or preempted by federal law in a manner
consistent with the United States Constitution.
(c) The sovereign immunity conferred by this section on the
state and each of its officers, employees, and agents includes the
constitutional sovereign immunity recognized by the United States
Supreme Court in Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44
(1996) and Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999), which applies in
both state and federal court and may not be abrogated by Congress or
by any state or federal court except under legislation authorized
by:
(1) Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, United
States Constitution;
(2) the Bankruptcy Clause of Article I, United States
Constitution;
(3) Congress's powers to raise and support armies and
to provide and maintain a navy; or
(4) any other ground that may be recognized by the
United States Supreme Court.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the immunities conferred
by this section shall apply in every court, both state and federal,
and in every adjudicative proceeding of any type.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a provision of state law
may not be construed to waive or abrogate an immunity described by
this section unless it expressly waives or abrogates immunity with
specific reference to this section.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, an attorney representing
the state, a political subdivision, or an officer, employee, or
agent of this state or a political subdivision may not waive an
immunity described by this section or take any action that would
result in a waiver of that immunity. A purported waiver or action
described by this subsection is regarded as a legal nullity and an
ultra vires act.
Sec. 110A.057. LIMITS ON STATE COURT JURISDICTION. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, including Chapter 37 of this code
and Sections 22.002, 22.221, 24.007, 24.008, 24.009, 24.010, and
24.011, Government Code, with respect to an action brought under
Section 110A.054 or 110A.055, a court of this state may not award
declaratory or injunctive relief, or any type of writ, that would:
(1) pronounce any provision or application of this
chapter invalid or unconstitutional; or
(2) restrain the state, a political subdivision, an
officer, employee, or agent of this state or a political
subdivision, or any person from:
(A) enforcing a provision or application of this
chapter; or
(B) hearing, adjudicating, docketing, or filing
an action brought under Section 110A.054 or 110A.055.
(b) A court of this state does not have jurisdiction to
consider any action, claim, or counterclaim that seeks relief
described by Subsection (a).
(c) This chapter may not be construed to prevent a litigant
from asserting the invalidity or unconstitutionality of any
provision or application of this chapter as a defense to any action,
claim, or counterclaim brought against the litigant with respect to
an action brought under Section 110A.054 or 110A.055.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, any judicial relief
issued by a court of this state that disregards immunity conferred
by Section 110A.056(a) or the limitations on jurisdiction and
relief imposed by this section:
(1) is regarded as a legal nullity because the issuing
court is without jurisdiction; and
(2) may not be enforced or obeyed by any officer,
employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision,
judicial or otherwise.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, any writ, injunction, or
declaratory judgment issued by a court of this state that purports
to restrain the state, a political subdivision, an officer,
employee, or agent of this state or a political subdivision, or any
person from hearing, adjudicating, docketing, or filing an action
brought under Section 110A.054 or 110A.055 is regarded as a legal
nullity and a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution and may not be enforced
or obeyed by any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a
political subdivision, judicial or otherwise.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, including rules adopted
under Chapter 26, a court may not certify a plaintiff or defendant
class with respect to any claim that seeks declaratory or
injunctive relief, or any type of stay or writ, that would:
(1) pronounce any provision or application of this
chapter invalid or unconstitutional;
(2) restrain or prevent the state, a political
subdivision, any officer, employee, or agent of this state or a
political subdivision, or any other person from enforcing any
provision or application of this chapter; or
(3) restrain or prevent a court from hearing,
adjudicating, docketing, or filing an action brought under Section
110A.054 or 110A.055.
Sec. 110A.058. SEVERABILITY. (a) Mindful of Leavitt v. Jane L.
Jane L.
the severability of a state statute the United States Supreme Court
held that an explicit statement of legislative intent is
controlling, it is the intent of the legislature that every
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
in this chapter, and every application of the provisions in this
chapter to every person, group of persons, or circumstances, are
severable from each other.
(b) If any application of any provision in this chapter to
any person, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court
to be invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional, for any reason
whatsoever, then the remaining applications of that provision to
all other persons and circumstances shall be severed and preserved,
and shall remain in effect. All constitutionally valid applications
of the provisions in this chapter shall be severed from any
applications that a court finds to be invalid, preempted, or
unconstitutional, because it is the legislature's intent and
priority that every single valid application of every statutory
provision be allowed to stand alone.
(c) The legislature further declares that it would have
enacted this chapter, and each provision, section, subsection,
sentence, clause, phrase, or word, and all constitutional
applications of the provisions of this chapter, irrespective of the
fact that any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, or word, or applications of this chapter were to be declared
invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional.
(d) If any provision of this chapter is found by any court to
be unconstitutionally vague, then the applications of that
provision that do not present constitutional vagueness problems
shall be severed and remain in force, consistent with the
severability requirements of Subsections (a), (b), and (c).
(e) No court may decline to enforce the severability
requirements of Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) on the ground
that severance would rewrite the statute or involve the court in
legislative or lawmaking activity. A court that declines to
enforce or enjoins a state official from enforcing a statutory
provision is not rewriting a statute or engaging in legislative or
lawmaking activity, as the statute continues to contain the same
words as before the court's decision. A judicial injunction or
declaration of unconstitutionality:
(1) is nothing more than an edict prohibiting
enforcement of the disputed statute against the named parties to
that lawsuit, which may subsequently be vacated by a later court if
that court has a different understanding of the requirements of the
United States Constitution or Texas Constitution;
(2) is not a formal amendment of the language in a
statute; and
(3) no more rewrites a statute than a decision by the
executive not to enforce a duly enacted statute in a limited and
defined set of circumstances.
(f) If any state or federal court disregards any of the
severability requirements in Subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e),
and declares or finds any provision of this chapter facially
invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional, when there are discrete
applications of that provision that can be enforced against a
person, group of persons, or circumstances without violating
federal law or the federal or state constitution, then that
provision shall be interpreted, as a matter of state law, as if the
legislature had enacted a provision limited to the persons, group
of persons, or circumstances for which the provision's application
will not violate federal law or the federal or state constitution,
and every court shall adopt this saving construction of that
provision until the court ruling that pronounced the provision
facially invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional is vacated or
overruled.
SECTION 3. Every provision, section, subsection, sentence,
clause, phrase, or word of this Act, and every application of the
provisions in this Act to every person, groups of persons, or
circumstances, are severable from each other. If any application of
any provision in this Act to any person, group of persons, or
circumstances is found by a court to be unconstitutional or
invalid, on any ground for any reason whatsoever, then the
remaining applications of that provision to all other persons and
circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected. All
constitutional applications of this Act shall be severed from any
applications that a court finds to be unconstitutional, leaving the
constitutional applications in force, because it is the
legislature's intent and priority that the constitutional
applications be allowed to stand alone. The legislature further
declares that it would have passed this Act, and each provision,
section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word, and all
constitutional applications of this Act, irrespective of the fact
that any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase,
or word, or applications of this Act, were to be declared
unconstitutional by any court.
SECTION 4. Chapter 110A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues
on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.