Over the River and Through the Woods, No Step-Grandfather's House for You: In the latest in a string of grandparent visitation rights decisions being heard across the country, the Texas Supreme Court decided In re Ricky Derzapf today holding that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding access to a step-grandfather that was neither a biological nor adoptive grandparent. This per curiam opinion also held that there was insufficient evidence for the grandmother to prove that denying her access to her grandchildren would cause the grandchildrens' emotional well-being to suffer.

"Justice Collects Gifts To Pay Fees": Today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram contains this article discussing how "Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht personally collected more than $300,000 in private donations from some of the state's top lawyers to pay his legal bills."