Experts question the legality of Texas attorney general asking the public to pressure court over election fraud ruling

Experts have questions about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opposition to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ recent ruling that he can’t unilaterally prosecute voter fraud, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Paxton has been appearing on conservative media outlets asking citizens to reach out to the Court of Criminal Appeals. “Call them out by name,” Paxton said on Lindell TV earlier this month. “I mean, you can look them up. There’s eight of them that voted the wrong way. Call them, send mail, send email.”

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Paxton has support from top Texas Republicans who are petitioning the court to reverse the ruling and allow Paxton to prosecute election-law violations if county and district attorneys won’t. In the resulting outcry, at least one threatening message was flagged and forwarded to law enforcement.

As the Dallas Morning News points out, "state ethics rules for lawyers strictly limit outside-of-court contact attorneys can have with judges. The rules also limit lawyers from using others to make that contact on their behalf."