TEXAS, USA — One day after U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ruled the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is in contempt of her court, attorneys representing the State have filed an appeal.
The appeal was filed in the Fifth Circuit on behalf of Gov. Greg Abbott, Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Stephanie Muth and Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Cecile Erwin Young, who are all named defendants in the State's legal battle over failures in its foster care system, which has been ongoing since 2011.
On Monday, Jack handed down her contempt ruling with a $50,000 per day fine for each of the two orders she ruled the State violated, bringing the total fine to $100,000 per day. The ruling specifically targeted Commissioner Young and HHSC, citing that the agency's provider investigation unit showed "chronic failures" in completely timely, effective investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect from children who are permanent state custody.
In addition to filing an appeal, the State's attorneys also filed an emergency motion with Jack's court requesting that the contempt order and fines, which began immediately, be paused until the Fifth Circuit makes a ruling on the State's appeal.
Nearly an hour after that emergency motion was filed, Jack filed an order denying the request. Jack's order was brief, stating: "For all the reasons stated in docket entry 1560, and considering the safety of the children, the request for stay (D.E. 1562) is denied."
This means the court will not allow for a pause in daily fines from the State as it awaits a decision from the Fifth Circuit of Appeals, which the State's attorneys wrote in their emergency motion they are "highly likely to succeed" in because "Defendants have substantially complied with the remedial orders in question".
Meanwhile, Paul Yetter, who is the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, provided this statement:
"Rather than certify safe, timely investigations of reports of child abuse and neglect, the state seems determined to avoid responsibility," the statement reads. "This appeal sends a terrible message to Texas children that state leadership just doesn't care about their safety."