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Unnecessary Laws Are Not Good Laws

QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, TRUTH AND DUTY:

“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife

-John Adams

“A right delayed is a right denied.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

“While credit has brought riches to some it has impoverished many. Credit is always exercised by the capable business man with great care and with such reasonable sinking fund or equity under reasonable safeguards as to meet emergencies. The businessman who uses his credit and weathers all storms is indeed well ballasted. Credit when exercised by municipalities or other political subdivisions should be exercised with the same care. Safeguards and limitations against the making of such obligations is essential. The future should never be mortgaged except when an adequate necessity exists and then under reasonable limitations. One of the dangers of any community is in improving too fast, and incurring too many obligations. We should advance and progress wisely, carefully and surely, so that there should be no reaction. We feel now the burden of the hand of the tax gatherer, but if we examine into details we find that a great part of these taxes are gathered every year to provide a sinking fund for municipal indebtedness. Oft’ times this indebtedness has been created under the feverish spirit for development. State of the State, January 15, 1915

-Governor Robert Lee Williams of Oklahoma

“Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it, . . . the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” April 22, 1981, proclamation

-George H.W. Bush

“As the men of the victorious British 14th Army advanced through Burma on the road to Mandalay in January 1945 they encountered Japanese savagery towards prisoners.

After a battle, the Berkshires found dead British soldiers beaten, stripped of their boots and suspended by electric flex upside down from trees. This sharpened the battalion’s sentiment against their enemy. Back in Britain it was beginning to emerge that such inhumanity was not confined to the battlefield.

Men who had escaped from Japanese captivity brought tales of brutality so extreme that politicians and officials censored them for fear of the Japanese imposing even more terrible sufferings upon tens of thousands of POWs who remained in their hands. The US government suppressed for months the first eyewitness accounts of the 1942 Bataan death march in the Philippines on which so many captured American GIs perished, and news of the beheadings of shot-down aircrews….

More than a quarter of Western POWs lost their lives in Japanese captivity. This represented deprivation and brutality of a kind familiar to Russian and Jewish prisoners of the Nazis in Europe, yet shocking to the American, British and Australian public.

It seemed incomprehensible that a nation with pretensions to civilisation could have defied every principle of humanity and the supposed rules of war…

Most modern Japanese do not accept the ill-treatment of subject peoples and prisoners by their forebears, even where supported by overwhelming evidence, and those who do acknowledge it incur the disdain or outright hostility of their fellow-countrymen for doing so. It is repugnant the way they still seek to excuse, and even to ennoble, the actions of their parents and grandparents, so many of whom forsook humanity in favour of a perversion of honour and an aggressive nationalism which should properly be recalled with shame. The Japanese nation is guilty of a collective rejection of historical fact. As long as such denial persists, it will remain impossible for the world to believe that Japan has come to terms with the horrors it inflicted.” Nemesis: The Battle For Japan 1944-45

-Max Hastings

“I will sacrifice upon the alter [sic] of my country.”

-A Sergeant from Georgia

“Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery.”

-Frank Chodorov

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic….”

-Congressional Oath of Office

“Governments harangue about deficits to get more revenue so they can spend more.” 1993

-Allan H. Meltzer

“You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.”

-John Viscount Morley

“Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy, and while guided and controlled by virtue the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge, and the only security which freemen desire.”

-Mirabeau B. Lamar

“There are a few simple principles to be preserved. Bear in mind the dividing line between State rights and Federal authority; let us maintain the great principles of popular sovereignty, of State rights, and of the Federal Union as the Constitution has made it, and this Republic will endure forever.” Speech in Bloomington, Illinois, July 16, 1858

-Stephen Douglas

“Any man that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.”

-Nelson Mandela

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”

-James Madison

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”

-Thomas Paine

“In the transition from Texas Rangers to citizens we should strive to render ourselves as useful in the one sphere as, I hope, we have been bold and efficient in the other. Ours has been a wild life. We have had the utmost latitude of conduct that could be allowed within the pale of law and propriety. Let us remember that we are about to return to the place of abode, where we shall mingle with relatives and friends, who have a right to circumscribe our actions within the bounds of civil life. We must not forget our responsibility to the laws and usages of society. A brave man generally makes a good, peaceable citizen. When the test is applied to us it is to be hoped that we will not be found wanting.” Farewell Address

-John Salmon Ford

“Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty.”

-Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President

“Historically, statistics is no more than ‘State Arithmetic,’ a system by which differences between individuals are eliminated by the taking of an average. It has been used – indeed, still is used – to enable rulers to know just how far they may safely go in picking the pockets of their subjects.”

-M.J. Moroney

“The apathy of our people is most alarming. If they do not rouse themselves to a sense of our condition and put down this wretched government, the country is irretrievably ruined.”

-John Randolph

“So, as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to say those fighting words for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Professional Politician: ‘From my cold, dead hands!”

-Charlton Heston

“Damn you, if you will not follow me, I’ll die alone!”

-A. Powell Hill

“A patriot must always be prepared to protect his country from his government.”

-Edward Abbey

“The Federal Government has twisted almost every word in the Constitution for the purpose of increasing their power, limiting the voice of the people, and stomping on State’s Rights. They do it in the name of the Commerce Clause, or the General Welfare Clause, or misinterpretations of what the words in the Constitution really mean. All the while we sit around like a bunch of sheep with a big, stupid smile on our face, waiting in line to be sheered.”

-Curtis Patranella

“Give the American people a good cause, and there’s nothing they can’t lick.”

-Duke Morrison

“They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.” D-Day radio broadcast, June 6, 1944

– President Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Unnecessary laws are not good laws, but traps for money.” Leviathan, 1651

-Thomas Hobbes

Williams, McClure & Parmelee is dedicated to high quality legal representation of businesses and insurance companies in a variety of matters. We are experienced Texas civil litigation attorneys based in Fort Worth who know Texas courts and Texas law. For more information, please contact the law firm at 817-335-8800. The firm’s new office location is 5601 Bridge Street, Suite 300, Fort Worth, Texas 76112.

Jul 19th, 2015 Interesting Quotes in History

Texas Payday Law–Texas Labor Code Chapter 61

LABOR CODE

TITLE 2. PROTECTION OF LABORERS

SUBTITLE C. WAGES

CHAPTER 61. PAYMENT OF WAGES

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 61.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) “Commission” means the Texas Workforce Commission.

(2) “Day” means a calendar day.

(3) “Employee” means an individual who is employed by an employer for compensation. The term does not include:

(A) a person related to the employer or the employer’s spouse within the first or second degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code; or

(B) an independent contractor.

(4) “Employer” means a person who:

(A) employs one or more employees; or

(B) acts directly or indirectly in the interests of an employer in relation to an employee.

(5) “Employment” means any service, including service in interstate commerce, that is performed for wages or under a contract of hire, whether written or oral or express or implied. The term does not include any service performed by an individual for wages if it is shown that the individual is free from control or direction in the performance of the service, both under any contract of service and in fact.

(6) “Mail” means to deposit for mailing with the United States Postal Service.

(7) “Wages” means compensation owed by an employer for:

(A) labor or services rendered by an employee, whether computed on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis; and

(B) vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave pay, parental leave pay, or severance pay owed to an employee under a written agreement with the employer or under a written policy of the employer.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(27), 9.12(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.002. COMMISSION DUTIES. (a) The commission shall:

(1) administer this chapter; and

(2) adopt rules as necessary to implement this chapter.

(b) The commission may require reports, conduct investigations, and take other action as it considers necessary to implement this chapter.

(c) In the discharge of the duties imposed by this chapter, any authorized representative or member of the commission may:

(1) administer an oath or affirmation;

(2) take a deposition;

(3) certify to an official act; and

(4) issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of a witness and the production of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records considered necessary as evidence in the administration of this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.13(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.003. GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES EXCLUDED. This chapter does not apply to the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.004. PAYMENT OF CERTAIN FEES FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS. Notwithstanding Chapter 152 or 154, Local Government Code, or any other law of this state, the fees assessed by a sheriff or constable for service of a subpoena under Section 61.002 shall be paid by the commission out of the administrative funds of the commission, and the comptroller shall issue warrants for those fees as directed by the commission.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.13(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.005. EFFECT OF REFUSAL TO OBEY COMMISSION SUBPOENA; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) In the case of contumacy or other refusal by a person to obey a subpoena issued by the commission or an authorized representative of the commission to that person, any county or district court of this state in the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or in the jurisdiction of which the person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found, resides, or transacts business has jurisdiction, on application by the commission or its representative, to issue to the person an order requiring the person to appear before the commission or its authorized representative to:

(1) produce evidence if so ordered; or

(2) testify regarding the matter under investigation or in question.

(b) The court may punish as contempt a failure to obey a court order issued under Subsection (a).

(1) attend and testify;

(2) answer any lawful inquiry; or

(3) produce books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, or other records.

(d) An offense under Subsection (c) is punishable by a fine of not less than $200, by confinement for not more than 60 days, or by both fine and confinement. Each day of violation constitutes a separate offense.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.13(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 817, Sec. 10.11, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

SUBCHAPTER B. PAYMENT OF WAGES

Sec. 61.011. PAYDAYS. (a) An employer shall pay wages to each employee who is exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.) at least once a month.

(b) An employer shall pay wages to an employee other than an employee covered by Subsection (a) at least twice a month.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.012. DESIGNATION OF PAYDAYS; NOTICE. (a) An employer shall designate paydays in accordance with Section 61.011.

(b) If an employer fails to designate paydays, the employer’s paydays are the first and 15th day of each month.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.013. PAYMENT OTHER THAN ON PAYDAY. An employer shall pay an employee who is not paid on a payday for any reason, including the employee’s absence on a payday, on another regular business day on the employee’s request.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.014. PAYMENT AFTER TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT. (a) An employer shall pay in full an employee who is discharged from employment not later than the sixth day after the date the employee is discharged.

(b) An employer shall pay in full an employee who leaves employment other than by discharge not later than the next regularly scheduled payday.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.015. PAYMENT OF COMMISSIONS AND BONUSES. (a) Wages paid on commission and bonuses are due according to the terms of:

(1) an agreement between the employee and employer; or

(2) an applicable collective bargaining agreement.

(b) An employer shall pay wages paid on commission and bonuses to an employee in a timely manner as required for the payment of other wages under this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.016. FORM OF PAYMENT. (a) An employer shall pay wages to an employee:

(1) in United States currency;

(2) by a written instrument issued by the employer that is negotiable on demand at full face value for United States currency; or

(3) by the electronic transfer of funds.

(b) An employee may agree in writing to receive part or all of the wages in kind or in another form.

(c) Payment by a written instrument that is not negotiable or for which payment is refused for any reason attributable to the employer does not constitute payment of wages for the purposes of this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.017. DELIVERY OF PAYMENT. (a) An employer shall pay wages through a means authorized by this section.

(b) An employer may pay wages by:

(1) delivering them to the employee at the employee’s regular place of employment during regular employment hours;

(2) delivering them to the employee at a time and place agreed on by the employer and employee;

(3) sending them to the employee by registered mail, to be received by the employee not later than payday;

(4) delivering them in a manner similar to a manner specified by Subdivision (1), (2), or (3) to a person designated by the employee in writing; or

(5) delivering them to the employee by any reasonable means authorized by the employee in writing.

(c) An employer may elect to pay wages to an employee who maintains at a financial institution an account that qualifies for electronic funds transfer through a direct deposit plan that uses electronic funds transfer to deposit the wages in the employee’s account. An employer who desires to pay wages through a direct deposit plan shall:

(1) notify each affected employee in writing, at least 60 days before the date on which the direct deposit payroll system is scheduled to begin, that the employer is adopting a direct deposit payroll system; and

(2) obtain from the employee any information required by the financial institution in which the employee maintains the account that is necessary to implement the electronic funds transfer.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 316, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2003.

Sec. 61.018. DEDUCTION FROM WAGES. An employer may not withhold or divert any part of an employee’s wages unless the employer:

(1) is ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(2) is authorized to do so by state or federal law; or

(3) has written authorization from the employee to deduct part of the wages for a lawful purpose.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.019. FAILURE TO PAY WAGES; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) An employer commits an offense if:

(1) at the time of hiring an employee, the employer intends to avoid payment of wages owed to the employee; and

(2) the employer fails after demand to pay those wages.

(b) An employer commits an offense if the employer:

(1) intends to avoid payment of wages owed to an employee;

(2) intends to continue to employ the employee; and

(3) fails after demand to pay those wages.

(c) An employer commits a separate offense under Subsection (b) for each pay period during which the employee earns wages that the employer fails to pay.

(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1158, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 61.020. FAILURE TO PAY WAGES; ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION. The attorney general may seek injunctive relief in district court against an employer who repeatedly fails to pay wages as required by this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

SUBCHAPTER C. SECURITY FOR WAGE PAYMENTS

Sec. 61.031. BOND. (a) The commission may require an employer to deposit a bond if:

(1) the employer is convicted of two violations of this chapter; or

(2) a final order of the commission against an employer for nonpayment of wages remains unsatisfied after the 10th day after the date on which the time to appeal from that final order has expired and an appeal is not pending.

(b) The bond must be:

(1) in an amount approved and considered by the commission as adequate under the circumstances;

(2) payable to the state;

(3) conditioned that the employer, for a period not to exceed 36 months, pay the employees in accordance with this chapter; and

(4) conditioned that the employer pay any sum recovered against the employer under this chapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.032. SUIT TO ENFORCE BOND REQUIREMENT. (a) If an employer fails to deposit a bond required under Section 61.031 before the 11th day after the date on which demand is made for the bond, the attorney general may bring a suit in the name of the state against the employer to furnish the bond or to cease doing business until the employer furnishes the bond.

(b) If the court finds just cause for requiring the bond and that the bond is reasonably necessary and proper to secure prompt payment of the wages of the employees of the employer and the employer’s compliance with this chapter, the court may enjoin the employer from doing business until the requirement is met. The injunction may also apply to any other person concerned with or in any way participating in the failure to pay wages resulting in the conviction or in a final order of the commission. The court may make any other order appropriate and necessary to compel compliance with the requirement.

(c) In an action under this section, the employer has the burden of proving that the bond is unnecessary or that the amount demanded by the commission is excessive.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.033. FAILURE OF SURETY COMPANY TO PAY VERIFIED CLAIM FOR WAGES; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A surety company that issues a bond to secure the payment of wages under this chapter and that wilfully fails to pay a verified claim for wages found to be due and payable is subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for each failure to pay each employee.

(b) A subsequent violation is subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for each failure to pay each employee plus 25 percent of the amount unlawfully withheld.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

SUBCHAPTER D. WAGE CLAIMS

This section was amended by the 84th Legislature. Pending publication of the current statutes, see S.B. 208, 84th Legislature, Regular Session, for amendments affecting this section.

Sec. 61.051. FILING WAGE CLAIM. (a) An employee who is not paid wages as prescribed by this chapter may file a wage claim with the commission in accordance with this subchapter.

(b) A wage claim must be filed in a manner and on a form prescribed by the commission and must be verified by the employee.

(c) A wage claim must be filed not later than the 180th day after the date the wages claimed became due for payment. The 180-day deadline is a matter of jurisdiction.

(d) The employee may file the wage claim:

(1) in person at an office of the commission;

(2) by mailing the claim to an address designated by the commission;

(3) by faxing the claim to a fax number designated by the commission; or

(4) by any other means adopted by the commission by rule.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 21 (S.B. 741), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 97 (H.B. 762), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.

Sec. 61.052. PRELIMINARY WAGE DETERMINATION ORDER. (a) An examiner employed by the commission shall analyze each wage claim filed under Section 61.051 and, if the claim alleges facts actionable under this chapter, shall investigate the claim and issue a preliminary wage determination order:

(1) dismissing the wage claim; or

(2) ordering payment of wages determined to be due and unpaid.

(b) If a commission examiner imposes an administrative penalty under Section 61.053, the preliminary wage determination order must include an order for payment of the penalty.

(b-1) If a wage claim is filed later than the date described by Section 61.051(c), the examiner shall dismiss the wage claim for lack of jurisdiction.

(c) The commission examiner shall mail notice of the preliminary wage determination order to each party at that party’s last known address, as reflected by commission records.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 21 (S.B. 741), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2009.

Sec. 61.0525. ESTABLISHMENT OF WAGE CLAIM APPEAL TRIBUNALS. (a) The commission shall establish one or more impartial wage claim appeal tribunals to hear and decide disputed wage claims if the commission determines that establishment of those tribunals is necessary to ensure prompt disposal of wage claims cases on appeal.

(b) Each wage claim appeal tribunal shall be composed of a salaried examiner appointed by the commission.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.053. BAD FAITH; ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) If the commission examiner, a wage claim appeal tribunal, or the commission determines that an employer acted in bad faith in not paying wages as required by this chapter, the examiner, tribunal, or commission, in addition to ordering the payment of the wages, may assess an administrative penalty against the employer.

(b) If the commission examiner, a wage claim appeal tribunal, or the commission determines an employee acted in bad faith in bringing a wage claim, the examiner, tribunal, or commission may assess an administrative penalty against the employee.

(1) the amount of the wages in question or claimed; or

(2) $1,000.

(d) In determining the amount of an administrative penalty assessed under this section, the commission examiner, a wage claim appeal tribunal, or the commission shall consider:

(1) the seriousness of the violation;

(2) the history of previous violations;

(3) the amount necessary to deter a future violation; and

(4) any other appropriate matter, including mitigating circumstances.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.054. REQUEST FOR HEARING ON PRELIMINARY ORDER. (a) Either party may request a hearing before a wage claim appeal tribunal to appeal a preliminary wage determination order made under Section 61.052.

(b) The request for hearing must be made in writing not later than the 21st day after the date the commission examiner mails the notice of the preliminary wage determination order.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.055. PRELIMINARY ORDER FINAL IF HEARING NOT REQUESTED. If neither party requests a hearing to appeal a preliminary wage determination order within the period prescribed by Section 61.054, the order becomes the final order of the commission for all purposes, and neither party is entitled to judicial review of the order under this subchapter.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.056. PAYMENT REQUIRED IF HEARING NOT REQUESTED. (a) An employer that does not request a hearing within the period prescribed by Section 61.054 to appeal a preliminary wage determination order shall pay the amount ordered to the commission not later than the 21st day after the date the commission mails notice of the order. The payment must equal the net amount of outstanding wages after any valid deductions and must include an itemized list of those deductions.

(b) Payment to the commission constitutes payment to the employee for all purposes.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.14(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.057. NOTICE; TIME FOR HEARING. (a) A notice regarding an administrative hearing conducted under this subchapter must be mailed by the wage claim appeal tribunal not later than the 21st day after the date a request for the hearing is received by the commission.

(b) As soon as practicable, but not later than the 45th day after the date a notice is mailed under Subsection (a), the tribunal shall conduct the hearing.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.058. HEARING PROCEDURES. (a) A hearing conducted under this subchapter is subject to the rules and hearings procedures used by the commission in the determination of a claim for unemployment compensation benefits.

(b) The hearing is not subject to Chapter 2001, Government Code.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(49), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.059. CONSIDERATION OF PRELIMINARY WAGE DETERMINATION ORDER. The wage claim appeal tribunal may modify, affirm, or rescind a preliminary wage determination order.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 9, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.060. ORDER AFTER HEARING. After a hearing, the wage claim appeal tribunal shall enter a written order for the payment of wages that the tribunal determines to be due or for the payment of any penalty the tribunal assesses.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 10, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.061. NOTICE AND FINALITY OF ORDER. (a) The wage claim appeal tribunal shall mail to each party to the appeal notice of:

(1) the decision;

(2) the amount of wages subject to the order; and

(3) the amount of any penalty assessed.

(4) Expired.

(b) The notice shall be mailed to a party’s last known address, as shown by commission records.

(c) The order of the wage claim appeal tribunal becomes final 14 days after the date on which it is mailed unless a further appeal to the commission is initiated as provided by this subchapter.

(1) Expired.

(2) Expired.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.0611. REMOVAL OR TRANSFER OF CLAIM PENDING BEFORE WAGE CLAIM APPEAL TRIBUNAL. (a) The commission by order may remove to itself or transfer to another wage claim appeal tribunal the proceedings on a wage claim pending before a wage claim appeal tribunal.

(b) The commission promptly shall mail to the parties to the affected wage claim a notice of the order under Subsection (a).

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.0612. COMMISSION REVIEW OF WAGE CLAIM APPEAL TRIBUNAL ORDER. The commission may:

(1) on its own motion:

(A) affirm, modify, or set aside an order issued under Section 61.061 on the basis of the evidence previously submitted in the case; or

(B) direct the taking of additional evidence; or

(2) permit any of the parties affected by the order to initiate a further appeal before the commission.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.0613. NOTICE OF COMMISSION ACTION. (a) The commission shall mail to each party to the appeal under Section 61.0612 notice of:

(1) the commission’s decision;

(2) the amount of wages subject to the order;

(3) the amount of any penalty assessed; and

(4) the parties’ right to judicial review of the order.

(b) The notice shall be mailed to a party’s last known address, as shown by commission records.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.0614. FINALITY OF COMMISSION ORDER. An order of the commission becomes final 14 days after the date the order is mailed unless before that date:

(1) the commission by order reopens the appeal; or

(2) a party to the appeal files a written motion for rehearing.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.062. JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) A party who has exhausted the party’s administrative remedies under this chapter, other than a motion for rehearing, may bring a suit to appeal the order.

(b) The suit must be filed not later than the 30th day after the date the final order is mailed.

(d) The suit must be brought in the county of the claimant’s residence. If the claimant is not a resident of this state, the suit must be brought in the county in this state in which the employer has its principal place of business.

(e) An appeal under this subchapter is by trial de novo with the substantial evidence rule being the standard of review in the manner as applied to an appeal from a final decision under Subtitle A, Title 4.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.14(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 378 (S.B. 1408), Sec. 13, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 61.063. PAYMENT TO COMMISSION; ESCROW PENDING REVIEW; WAIVER. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date a commission order becomes final, the party required to pay wages or a penalty shall:

(1) pay the amount to the commission; or

(2) if the party files a petition for judicial review in a court of competent jurisdiction contesting the final order, send the amount to the commission for deposit in an interest-bearing escrow account.

(b) Unless the party files an affidavit of inability to pay with the clerk of the court within the period specified in Subsection (a), failure to send the amount within that period constitutes a waiver of the right to judicial review.

(c) If after judicial review it is determined that some or all of the wages are not owed or the penalty is reduced or is not assessed, the commission shall remit the appropriate amount to the party assessed the wage payment or penalty, plus the interest accrued on the escrowed amount. Interest under this section shall be paid for the period beginning on the date the assessed amount is paid to the commission and ending on the date the amount is remitted to the party.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.14(c), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.064. PAYMENT TO EMPLOYEE. Not later than the 30th day after the date on which a claim is finally adjudicated or otherwise resolved, the commission shall pay to the claimant wages collected under this subchapter and any interest earned on those wages.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.065. DEPOSIT OF PENALTY. The commission shall deposit a penalty collected under this subchapter in the unemployment compensation special administration fund established under Subchapter E, Chapter 203.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.066. COMMISSION ACTION; ENFORCEMENT OF ORDER. (a) The commission, in the name of the state and the attorney general, may:

(1) bring a suit in a district court in Travis County to enforce a final order from which an appeal under this chapter has not been taken; or

(2) serve on the defaulting party a notice of assessment stating the amount due.

(b) A notice of assessment served under this section is prima facie evidence of the contents of the notice. However, the defaulting party may show the incorrectness of the notice of assessment.

(c) The notice shall be served in the manner provided by law for service of process on a defendant in a civil action in district court.

(d) A person aggrieved by the determination of the commission as stated in the notice of assessment may seek judicial review of the assessment by filing a petition for judicial review in a Travis County district court not later than the 30th day after the date on which the notice of assessment is served. A copy of the petition shall be served in the manner prescribed by law for service of process on a defendant in a civil action in district court on:

(1) a member of the commission; or

(2) a person designated by the commission for service of process.

(e) If the party on whom a notice of assessment is served does not seek judicial review as provided by this section, the assessment is final for all purposes. An assessment that is not contested or that is upheld after judicial review shall be recorded, enforced, renewed, and otherwise treated as the final judgment of a district court.

(f) Unless the adverse party prevails in the civil action or the notice of assessment is reversed by a reviewing court, the adverse party shall pay all costs of either action, including attorney’s fees, investigation costs, service costs, court costs, and other applicable costs.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.14(d), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.067. RECIPROCAL COLLECTION ARRANGEMENTS. The commission may enter into reciprocal arrangements with appropriate authorized agencies of the United States or other states for the collection of wage claims that are final under the laws of the jurisdictions in which they were filed.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 9.15(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

SUBCHAPTER E. ADMINISTRATIVE LIEN

Sec. 61.081. CREATION AND ATTACHMENT OF LIEN. (a) A final order of the commission against an employer indebted to the state for penalties or wages, unless timely appealed to a court, is a lien on all the property belonging to the employer.

(b) The lien for an unpaid debt attaches at the time the order of the commission becomes final.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.082. ENFORCEMENT OF LIEN. (a) Subchapters A and B, Chapter 113, Tax Code, govern the enforcement of a lien established under this subchapter.

(b) In administering and enforcing the lien, the commission has the duties imposed and the powers conferred on the comptroller for the enforcement of other liens under Subchapters A and B, Chapter 113, Tax Code.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.0825. PRIORITY OF LIEN. A lien established under this subchapter is superior to any other lien on the same property, with the exception of a lien for ad valorem taxes.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 61.083. FILING; FEE. (a) A lien under this subchapter may be recorded in the book entitled “State Tax Liens” kept by the county clerk as provided by Section 113.004, Tax Code.

(b) The commission shall pay the county clerk of the county in which a notice of the lien has been filed the usual fee for filing and recording similar instruments. The fee shall be paid by warrant drawn by the comptroller. The fee is an amount due to the commission from the employer.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.084. RELEASE OF LIEN. (a) A lien under this subchapter may be released in the manner provided by Subchapter A, Chapter 113, Tax Code, for a state tax lien.

(b) If the liability secured by the lien is fully paid, the commission shall mail a release of lien to the employer.

(c) The employer is responsible for filing a release of lien with the appropriate county clerk and paying the county clerk’s fee for recording the release.

Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 269, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 61.085. ASSIGNMENT OF LIEN. A lien securing wages due under this chapter may be assigned to the claimant, at the claimant’s request.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 761, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

SUBCHAPTER F. DELINQUENCY; LEVY

Sec. 61.091. NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY. (a) If, under a final order, a person is determined to be delinquent in the payment of wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due under this chapter, the commission may notify personally or by mail any person who:

(1) possesses or controls any of the delinquent person’s assets, including a credit, bank, or savings account or deposit, or other intangible or personal property; or

(2) owes a debt to the delinquent person.

(b) A notice under this subchapter to a state officer, department, or agency must be provided before the officer, department, or agency presents to the comptroller the claim of the delinquent person.

(c) A notice under this subchapter may be given at any time after the wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due under this chapter become delinquent. The notice must state the amount of wages, penalties, interest, or other amounts due and owing and any additional amount that will accrue by operation of law in a period not to exceed 30 days and, in the case of a credit, bank, or savings account or deposit, is effective only up to that amount.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 761, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.092. DUTIES OF NOTICE RECIPIENT. (a) On receipt of a notice under this subchapter, the person receiving the notice:

(1) shall advise the commission not later than the 20th day after the date on which the notice is received of each asset belonging to the delinquent person that is possessed or controlled by the person receiving the notice and of each debt owed by the person receiving the notice to the delinquent person; and

(2) unless the commission consents to an earlier disposition, may not transfer or dispose of the asset or debt possessed, controlled, or owed by the person on the date the person received the notice within the 60-day period after the date of receipt of the notice.

(b) A notice under this subchapter that attempts to prohibit the transfer or disposition of an asset possessed or controlled by a bank is effective if it is delivered or mailed to the principal office or any branch office of the bank, including any office of the bank at which the deposit is carried or the credit or property is held.

(c) A person who receives a notice under this subchapter and who violates Subsection (a)(2) is liable to the commission for the amount of the indebtedness of the delinquent person with respect to whose obligation the notice was given, to the extent of the value of the affected asset or debt.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 761, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.093. LEVY. (a) At any time during the 60-day period provided by Section 61.092(a)(2), the commission may levy on the asset or debt by delivery of a notice of levy.

(b) On receipt of the levy notice, the person possessing the asset or debt shall transfer the asset to the commission or pay to the commission the amount owed to the delinquent person.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 761, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.094. NOTICE EFFECT. A notice delivered under this subchapter is effective:

(1) at the time of delivery against all property, rights to property, credits, or debts involving the delinquent person that are not on the date of the notice subject to a preexisting lien, attachment, garnishment, or execution issued through a judicial process; and

(2) against all property, rights to property, credits, or debts involving the delinquent person that come into the possession or control of the person served with a notice of levy during the 60-day period provided by Section 61.092(a)(2).

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 761, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 61.095. DISCHARGE OF LIABILITY. A person acting in accordance with the terms of the notice issued by the commission under this subchapter is discharged from any obligation or liability to the delinquent person with respect to the affected property, rights to property, credits, and debts of the person affected by compliance with the notice of freeze or levy.

Jul 19th, 2015 Employment Law Defense

Small Employer Health Insurance Under Texas Law–Texas Department of Insurance

(January 2015)

Small employers don’t have to offer health insurance to their employees, but employers that do must make it equally available to all employees working 30 hours or more per week (not on a temporary or seasonal basis) and their dependents.

Texas insurance law definefs a small employer as a business with two to 50 employees, regardless of how much they work.

In general, insurance companies require at least 75 percent of a small employer’s eligible employees to participate in the health plan. (An eligible employee is a full-time employee who usually works at least 30 hours a week.) Companies must always round down to the nearest whole number when calculating the number of participating eligible employees. For example, a business with five employees would achieve 75 percent participation if three eligible employees participate. Seventy-five percent of five is 3.75, and 3.75 rounded down is three.

Insurance companies that offer small-employer coverage must make it available to any employer who applies year round. However, if the employer doesn’t meet the minimum participation requirements, availability may be limited to the federal open enrollment period running from November 15 through December 15 of each year.

Types of Plans

The Affordable Care Act requires all individual and small-employer group plans to cover a standardized package of services. These services are known as essential health benefits.
The essential health benefits include the following items and services:
ambulatory patient services (outpatient care you get without being admitted to a hospital)

emergency services
hospitalization (including surgery)
maternity and newborn care
mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (including counseling and psychotherapy)
prescription drugs
rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)
laboratory services
preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management pediatric services, including oral and vision care.

The essential health benefits are based on a typical plan bought by small employers in Texas. This means that all of the benefits requirements for small-employer plans under Texas law were adopted as part of the federal essential health benefits standard. Learn more about what Texas law requires atwww.tdi.texas.gov/hmo/hmmanben.html.

Grandfathered plans (those that an employer bought before March 23, 2010) aren’t required to contain the essential health benefits, but they do need to comply with Texas laws. Also, some types of insurance, such as indemnity policies, aren’t subject to the ACA and don’t count as minimum essential coverage for tax purposes.

Providing Coverage

Employers must give new employees at least 31 days from their start date to enroll in a health plan. After this time, employees may be required to wait up to one year for the next open enrollment period to join. Insurance companies must offer a 31-day open enrollment period annually.

Employers may require newly eligible employees to wait up to 90 days before being eligible for benefits. However, the insurance company may not charge a premium during this period.

Beginning in January 2014, insurance companies won’t be able to impose coverage limits, exclusions, or waiting periods for employees with preexisting conditions who had a gap in coverage.

Continuing Coverage

State regulations and a federal law called COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) allow employees to maintain benefits for a time after leaving a job. COBRA doesn’t apply to all small employers, but state continuation requirements do. Employers are required to tell employees about their rights to continue coverage. Former employees who choose to continue their coverage through COBRA or state continuation must pay the full cost of the plan. Employers aren’t required to contribute toward their premiums for former employees, even if they previously paid a share. Ask your carrier about your responsibilities regarding continuation notices.

Paying for Coverage

The law doesn’t require employers to contribute toward health benefit plan premiums. Many insurance companies, however, require employers to pay at least 50 percent of their employees’ plan premiums. Employers may choose to pay a higher percentage than the company requires.

Employers are usually not required to contribute toward the cost of dependent coverage.
Premiums may increase at each renewal term because of rising health care costs. However, Texas law caps small-employer rate increases due to health factors – such as the amount of employee claims experience – at 15 percent per year. State law also protects businesses who buy small-employer health insurance by prohibiting insurance companies from discontinuing coverage without a reason.

Businesses with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees that pay at least 50 percent of premiums and pay average annual wages below $50,000 may be eligible for a tax credit of up to 50 percent (35 percent for nonprofits) of the premiums the business pays if it buys coverage through the federal small-business health options program, called the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). For more information, visit www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop-coverage/.

How Insurers Calculate Small-Employer Plan Premiums

Insurance companies base the amount employers pay for insurance on the specific benefits package and cost-sharing levels chosen by the employer. The health status of employees won’t impact rates. Insurance companies will consider the following factors:

Age of employees. Older people usually have more expensive and more frequent health-related claims. Generally, the older your workforce, the more your plan will cost. However, federal law prevents insurers from charging more than three times more for older employees than they charge for younger employees.
Tobacco use. Federal law allows health plans to charge tobacco users up to 50 percent more. Texas law requires that rating factors related to health status be spread across the employer group. A group with more tobacco users will pay higher rates than a group with fewer tobacco users.
Geographic area. Health care costs vary by region because of differences in the cost of living and the number of providers in the area. Most plans use either the county or ZIP code of the employer’s business address to base rates.

Affordable Care Act Requirements

Small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time plus full-time equivalent employees won’t face a penalty if they don’t provide health insurance to their employees.

Federal law defines a full-time employee as one who works at least 30 hours during a typical week. The law counts each 120 hours worked by part-time employees in a month as one full-time equivalent employee.

Consider a company that employs 30 full-time employees who work at least 120 hours each per month and 24 part-time workers who average 80 hours each per month.

To convert the part-time employees’ hours to full-time equivalent employees, multiply the number of part-time workers by the average number of hours they work each month: 24 x 80 = 1,920. Then divide the total number of hours worked by 120: 1,920/120 = 16. To get the total number of full-time equivalent employees, add this number to the number of full-time employees: 30 + 16 = 46. Thus, the employer in this example has 46 full-time equivalent employees and qualifies as a small employer under the law.

For more information, visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596.

Buying Coverage Through the Insurance Marketplace

The federal government will operate the insurance marketplace in Texas.

Businesses with 50 or fewer full-time plus full-time equivalent employees may buy coverage through the SHOP. In 2016, employers with up to 100 full-time and full-time equivalent employees will be able to buy SHOP coverage. An employer that has SHOP coverage and hires more employees than the threshold will be able to continue coverage through SHOP.

For more information about the insurance marketplace, visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-706-7893

Shopping for Coverage

Because premiums, deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance levels can vary from plan to plan, it pays to shop around. The following tips can help you find the best value for your money:

Understand coverages when comparing plans and rates. Plans with higher deductibles, copayments, and employee share of coinsurance generally will have lower premiums. Keep in mind that your employees will also have to pay more out of pocket when they access services or benefits.
Consider factors other than cost, such as a company’s financial strength and complaint record. You can learn a company’s financial rating, as determined by an independent rating organization, and complaint record by calling the Texas Department of Insurance Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439 or by visiting our website at www.tdi.texas.gov.
Buy only from licensed insurance companies and HMOs. Selling unlicensed coverage is illegal in Texas. If you buy from an unlicensed company, your employees’ claims could go unpaid and you could be held liable for the full amount of your employees’ claims and losses. You can learn whether a company is licensed by calling the Consumer Help Line or by viewing the company profiles on our website.
Understand that employee health coverage is different from workers’ compensation insurance, which covers only job-related injuries and illnesses. Although workers’ compensation insurance is not required in Texas, it protects an employer from high damage awards in the case of workplace accidents. Providing regular health coverage to employees isn’t a legal alternative to providing workers’ compensation insurance. Read TDI’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance publication for more information.

For More Information or Assistance

For answers to general insurance questions, for information about filing an insurance-related complaint, or to report suspected insurance fraud, call the Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Central time, Monday-Friday, or visit our website at www.tdi.texas.gov.

You can also visit HelpInsure.com to help you shop for automobile, homeowners, condo, and renters insurance, and TexasHealthOptions.com to learn more about health care coverage and your options.

For printed copies of consumer publications, call the Consumer Help Line.

To report suspected arson or suspicious activity involving fires, call the State Fire Marshal’s 24-hourArson Hotline at 1-877-4FIRE45 (434-7345).

The information in this publication is current as of the revision date. Changes in laws and agency administrative rules made after the revision date may affect the content. View current information on our website. TDI distributes this publication for educational purposes only. This publication is not an endorsement by TDI of any service, product, or company.

For more information contact: ConsumerProtection@tdi.texas.gov or 1-800-252-3439

Jul 19th, 2015 Contracts and Commercial Litigation, Insurance Defense Litigation

Colleyville, Texas Insurance Fraud and Murder Case Update

A housekeeper who was found dead in September of last year was killed as part of a seven-figure life insurance scam. Anita Fox, 72, was found murdered in the entryway of a home she was cleaning in Colleyville, Texas. Colleyville police said that Gerard Gorman, 48, and his son Bernard, 27, were named suspects in the “complex” scam. Police believe someone took out a fraudulent seven-figure life insurance policy on her, which she was not aware of. They believe the Gormans killed her because of it, trying to cash in on the money. Gerard Gorman was found dead of natural causes near Houston last month. Bernard Gorman was arrested by police in Florida and has been charged with Fox’s murder. It is unknown whether the insurance agent who sold the policy will be implicated. The FBI and the Fraud Unit are investigating whether more people are involved and if there is a larger insurance fraud scheme. Read the Star-Telegram story about the fraud scheme.

Jul 19th, 2015 Contracts and Commercial Litigation, Insurance Defense Litigation

Owner of Fictitious Title Company Gets 55 Years in Texas Insurance Fraud Case

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Fraud Unit, along with the Harris County District Attorney’s office, investigated Telly J. Smith and his fictitious online title company named “Exodus Title Company,” which was not associated in any way with the legitimate, TDI licensed title company Exodus Title, LLC of Houston. Smith forged property deeds to steal the ownership of four properties and then stole money from lending institutions by securing over $3 million in mortgages on the stolen properties.

The 14-month investigation required the review of detailed financial records, real property and title records. The thoroughness of the investigation resulted in the suspect pleading guilty in the 230th District Court of Harris County. After pleading guilty, the suspect, Telly J. Smith, requested a hearing before the judge for sentencing. After reviewing the evidence of the investigation, the Honorable Judge Brad Hart sentenced Smith to 55 years confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, assessed a fine of $10,000, and ordered Smith to pay $1.7 million in restitution.

Jul 19th, 2015 Contracts and Commercial Litigation, Insurance Defense Litigation

If Liberty Means Anything at All, It Means the Right to Tell People What They Do Not Want to Hear

QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, TRUTH AND DUTY:

“I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.”

-Nelson Mandela

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”

-Robert Heinlein

“The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates.”

– Tacitus

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Letter to Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800

-Thomas Jefferson

“Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice.” Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest

-Stephen E. Ambrose

“War is not glorious as novelists would have us believe. It is only when we are in the heat and flush of battle that it is fascinating and interesting. It is only then that we enjoy it. When we forget ourselves and revel in the destruction we are dealing around us. I am now ashamed of the feelings I had in those hours of danger. Ours is a just war, a holy cause.”

-John Pelham

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. He intends only his own gain, and he is, in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was not part of his intention.” Wealth of Nations

-Adam Smith

“It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

– Luke 17:2

“The general reading public that wants to learn about the whole of our nation’s past has had to turn to history books written by non-academics who have no Ph.D.s and are not involved in the incestuous conversations of the academic scholars. . . . These historians see themselves as moral critics obligated to denounce the values of the past in order to somehow reform our present.”

-Pulitzer Prize winning Professor Gordon S. Wood

“The determination to resist invasion is the first and most sacred duty of a free people.”

-Benjamin W. Jones

“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” “California and the Problem of Government Growth,” Speech as Governor of California, January 5, 1967

-Ronald Reagan

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” Man and Superman

-George Bernard Shaw

“A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”

-George Washington

“Rebellion is the resistance of an inferior to the lawful authority of a superior. A child may rebel against a parent—a slave against his master—citizens against the government, and colonies against their mother-country—but a State cannot rebel; because one Sovereign cannot rebel against another, for all Sovereigns are equal. The Sovereignty of the little State of Delaware is equal to that of New York, or of Russia, though the physical power of those Sovereignties are vastly different. The supposition, therefore, that a Sovereign State can commit Rebellion, Treason, or any crime whatever, is utterly inadmissible in the science of politics. The idea of crime cannot exist where there is no conceivable or possible tribunal, before which the culprit could be arraigned and convicted. Still less can any State be supposed to incur the guilt of rebellion or treason, by resisting an unconstitutional law of the General Government. The General Government is the creature of the States—the offspring of their Sovereign Power. It the Creator to be governed by the lawless authority of the Creature?”

-Maria H. Pinckney

“Poverty in Egypt, or anywhere else, is not very difficult to explain. There are three basic causes: People are poor because they cannot produce anything highly valued by others. They can produce things highly valued by others but are hampered or prevented from doing so. Or, they volunteer to be poor.”

-Walter Williams

“Oh History, History what a tissue of lies thou art!”

-Daniel H. Hill

“The trouble with this generation is that they are like Prince Ptolemy of Egypt when he wanted Euclid to show him an easy way to learn geometry. It is too much of a general rule now among the young to look for an easy way or a soft place.” Letter to a friend 1923

-Supreme Court Justice Robert Lee Williams of Oklahoma

“It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.”

-Patrick Henry

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

-Lord Acton

“The long-established faith of the Texas settlers in the sanctity of written constitutional guarantees reacted against Santa Anna’s arbitrary course, and dormant sympathy for those engaged in a war against tyranny developed into action.”

-William Hughes

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

-Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

“Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.”

-Daniel Webster

“Bow down dear land, for thou hast found release

…What were our lives without thee?

What all our lives to save thee?

We reck not what we gave thee;

We will not dare to doubt thee,

but ask whatever else, and we will dare!”

-James R. Lowell, 1865

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

-George Orwell

“I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

“Liberty must be allowed to work out its natural results; and these will, ere long, astonish the world.”

-James Buchanan

“Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.”

-Walter Lippmann

“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles.” Speech at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 27, 1856

-Abraham Lincoln

Jul 19th, 2015 Interesting Quotes in History

Changes to OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rules–for Texas Employers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has expanded its requirement for reporting fatalities and severe injuries, and updated the list of industries exempt from recordkeeping requirements. The final rule announced September 11, 2014 requires all employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule, which also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements, will go into effect on January 1, 2015 for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

What Incidents Must be Reported to OSHA?

Under the revised rule, employers will be required to notify OSHA of:

work-related fatalities within eight hours of knowledge;
work-related in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours of knowledge;
amputations within 24 hours of knowledge; and
losses of an eye within 24 hours of knowledge.

Previously, OSHA’s regulations required an employer to report only work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees. Reporting single hospitalizations, amputations or loss of an eye was not required under the previous rule.

All employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records as described below, are required to comply with OSHA’s new severe injury and illness reporting requirements.

How to Report Incidents to OSHA

Employers can report these events by telephone to the nearest OSHA Area Office during normal business hours or the 24-hour OSHA hotline 1-800-321-OSHA [6742], or electronically through a new tool which will be released soon and accessible at the link below.

Updated List of Industries Exempt from OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements

The new rule maintains the exemption for any employer with 10 or fewer employees, regardless of their industry classification, from the requirement to routinely keep records of employee injuries and illnesses.

In the new rule, OSHA has updated the list of industries that, due to relatively low occupational injury and illness rates, are exempt from the requirement to routinely keep injury and illness records. The rule will go into effect January 1, 2015 for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

The previous list of exempt industries was based on the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system and the new rule uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to classify establishments by industry. The new list is based on updated injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For more information on the industries now exempt from keeping records or new industries now covered, please visit OSHA’s website.

Jul 18th, 2015 Construction Law, Employment Law Defense, Insurance Defense Litigation, Nonsubscriber Law, Workers' Compensation Defense

A Constitution Is the Law Governing Government

QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, TRUTH AND DUTY:

“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

-Harriet Tubman

“These left-overs from the former Young Turk Party, who should have been made to account for the millions of our Christian subjects who were ruthlessly driven en masse, from their homes and massacred, have been restive under the Republican rule.” Interview published on August 1, 1926 in The Los Angeles Examiner, talking about former Young Turks in his country…

-Mustafa “Ataturk” Kemal, Founder of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923 and revered throughout Turkey

“They shall not pass” (French: ‘On ne passe pas’). During the Battle of Verdun in the First World War

-French General Robert Nivelle

“I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.”

-Clint Eastwood

“A constitution is the law governing government.” LP News

Wesley F. Deitchler

“It’s hard to account for my course except from a painful sense of duty,,,Sacrificing every earthly hope for principle.”

-Richard Ewell

“Most people … aren’t just ignorant or stupid: they genuinely prefer government control of their own and their neighbors’ lives. We can hand out flyers for the rest of our lives, publish as many books as we like, make speeches until we’re blue in the face, and most of them aren’t going to change their minds. While they disagree among themselves about the details, authoritarians of one sort or another constitute an overwhelming majority.” Liberty Magazine

-Max Orhai

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”

-Thomas Jefferson

“No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: “But what would you replace it with?” When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with?”

-Thomas Sowell

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”

-Henry David Thoreau

“You [should] not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harm it would cause if improperly administered.”

-Lyndon Baines Johnson

“Faithful servants of Texas, I have asked you to come here, that in the presence of the Representatives of the People of Texas, in their name as Speaker, and in the name of every man, woman, and child in Texas to thank you for the Invaluable services you have rendered them, for, but for you, Texas might have been drenched in blood, and remanded back to military rule, which in my humble judgment you have largely contributed to avert by your consummate tact, true courage, and patriotism. You are now discharged. To John Salmon Ford and the Travis Rifles (a local volunteer militia company), 1874

-Guy M. Bryan, Texas Speaker of the House

“The WWII generation shares so many common values: duty, honor, country, personal responsibility and the marriage vow.”

-Tom Brokaw

“Quit the canvass, there is no show for you now — you’re unendorsed and have angered the big gun of the piebald democracy.” May 5, 1855

Texas State Times (Austin)

“The constitutionality and propriety of the Federal Government assuming to enter into a novel and vast field of legislation, namely, that of providing for the care and support of all those … who by any form of calamity become fit objects of public philanthropy. … I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the great almoner of public charity throughout the United States. To do so would, in my judgment, be contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and subversive of the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded.”

-Franklin Pierce

“The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” American Business Executive and Philanthropist

-Theodore J. Forstmann

“Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.”

-Harry Emerson Fosdick

“It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties.”

-Patrick Cleburne

“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

-C.S. Lewis

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

-Abraham Lincoln

“Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.” The Federalist Papers Federalist No. 1, October 27, 1787

-Alexander Hamilton

“Demand and supply have controlled and regulated the market value of every exchangeable commodity since men began to trade and barter with each other. This is rule to which there is, there can be, no exception.. The value of any article or commodity is high or low in proportion to the prevailing desire to obtain it. No elaborate disquisition upon political economy or the value of exchangeable commodities can be needed to demonstrate the infallible truth of this proposition. It is self-evident known to every man from his individual experience. When the immediate demand for any article or commodity exceeds the available supply, its value or price rises; when the supply exceeds the demand, the price falls just as inevitably as the tides flow and ebb. Nothing on earth is so absolutely subject to the operation of this rule as labor. Ninety-nine hundredths of the laborers of the civilized world are compelled to sell their labor each day for the best price they can get for it.”

-Joseph Wheeler

“The annals of war at sea present no more intense, heart-shaking shock than this battle, in which the qualities of the United States Navy and Air Force and the American Race shone forth in splendour. The bravery and self-devotion of the American airmen and sailors and the nerve and skill of their leaders was the foundation of all.” Regarding the Battle of Midway in World War II

-Winston Churchill

“I’ve spent the past month in Washington D.C., and it is terrific to be back in America.”

-Ted Cruz

“What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.”

-Edward Langley

“Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing.”

-George Bernard Shaw

“And ere that time arrives I may be a mutilated martyr for my country & I should survive, the war may last longer & until it closes, I do not expect to see Texas gain.”

-Virginius Petty

“There is only one success – To be able to spend your life in your own way.”

-Christopher Morley

“It is not the responsibility of the government or the legal system to protect a citizen from himself.”

-Justice Casey Percell

“Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.”

-John F. Kennedy

Jul 18th, 2015 Interesting Quotes in History

When Is the WARN Act Triggered for Employers in Texas Employment Law: Department of Labor

THE WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND RETRAINING NOTIFICATION (WARN) ACT:

CIRCUMSTANCES THAT TRIGGER WARN ACT:

WARN is triggered when a covered employer: • Closes a facility or discontinues an operating unit (see glossary) permanently or temporarily, affecting at least 50 employees, not counting part-time workers, at a single site of employment. A plant closing also occurs when an employer closes an operating unit that has fewer than 50 workers but that closing also involves the layoff of enough other workers to make the total number of layoffs 50 or more; • Lays off more than 500 workers (not counting parttime workers) at a single site of employment during a 30-day period; or lays off 50-499 workers (not counting part-time workers), and these layoffs constitute 33% of the employer’s total active workforce (not counting part -time workers) at the single site of employment; • Announces a temporary layoff of less than 6 months that meets either of the two criteria above and then decides to extend the layoff for more than 6 months. If the extension occurs for reasons that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time the layoff was originally announced, notice need only be given when the need for the extension becomes known. Any other case is treated as if notice was required for the original layoff; or • Reduces the hours of work for 50 or more workers by more than 50% for each month in any 6- month period. Thus, a plant closing or mass lay-off need not be permanent to trigger WARN.

CIRCUMSTANCES THAT DO NOT TRIGGER WARN WARN is not triggered when a covered employer: • Closes a temporary facility or completes a temporary project, and the employees were hired with the clear understanding that their employment would end with the closing of the facility or the completion of the project; or Closes a facility or operating unit due to a strike or lockout and the closing is not intended to evade the purposes of the WARN Act. WARN is also not triggered when the following various thresholds for coverage are not met: • If a plant closing or mass layoff results in fewer than 50 people losing their jobs at a single site of employment; • If 50-499 workers lose their jobs and that number is less than 33% of the employer’s total active workforce at a single site; • If a layoff is for 6 months or less; or • If work hours are not reduced more than 50% in each month of any 6-month period.

Jul 18th, 2015 Employment Law Defense

How Many People Would Like to Play Me in Poker and Have the Rules Be “Living?”

QUOTES ON LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, TRUTH AND DUTY:

“I think a return to fiscal discipline, living within our means is essential for our long-term health.”

-Hillary Clinton

“The Greatest Generation wasn’t the greatest despite the challenges they faced, but because of them. Today many men shirk challenge and difficult pursuits, believing that the easier life is, the happier they’ll be. But our grandfathers knew better. They knew that one cannot have the bitter without the sweet, and that true happiness comes from overcoming the kind of challenges that build character and refine the soul. The challenges they experienced made their joy all the more sweet because it was tinged with the gratitude of knowing how easily it could all have been taken away.”

-Tom Brokaw

“Even as many Texas settlers formed an army and marched on San Antonio de Bexar, Smith originally intended to remain neutral. He changed his mind after the Texian Army, led by Stephen F. Austin, initiated a siege of Bexar. As the siege began, Smith and his son-in-law Hendrick Arnold were absent from town, on a hunting trip. The Mexican army increased security in the town, and refused to allow Smith and Arnold to return to their homes within the city. An indignant Smith immediately joined the Texian Army. Hearing impaired and a man of few words, he wrote to Austin: “I told you yesterday that I would not take sides in this war but, Sir, I now tender you my services as the Mexicans acted rascally with me.” http://historytrendsanddeafeducation.pbworks.com/w/page/18570551/Erastus%20%22Deaf%22%20Smith
-Biography of Erastus “Deaf” Smith

“The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it.”

-James A. Donald

“I grew up like a neglected weed – ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it.”

-Harriet Tubman

“Regulation – which is based on force and fear – undermines the moral base of business dealings. It becomes cheaper to bribe a building inspector than to meet his standards of construction. A fly-by-night securities operator can quickly meet all the S.E.C. requirements, gain the inference of respectability, and proceed to fleece the public. In an unregulated economy, the operator would have had to spend a number of years in reputable dealings before he could earn a position of trust sufficient to induce a number of investors to place funds with him. Protection of the consumer by regulation is thus illusory.”

-Alan Greenspan

“I am not asking anybody for anything if I can’t get it on my own. If you don’t like the way I’m living, just leave me alone.”

-Charles Daniels

“If people are justified in continuing a rebellion out of regard for their self-preservation [as they are], then there is no reason to think they are not justified in starting one for the same reason.” Hobbes on Resistance: Defying the Leviathan

-Susanne Sreedhar

“The average man doesn’t want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.”

-H.L. Mencken

“All power emanates from the people, they are sovereign; but the general undefined mass of individuals, told by the head within the borders of the United States, are not the people known to our Institutions: the citizens of each State acting through the body politic, or a convention, or in their primary assemblies, are the people. Whatever they shall do in their sovereign capacity, as the people of a State, may be a revolution, but it can never be a rebellion ; a sovereign cannot rebel against himself, nor against his coequal sovereigns; he may violate a compact with them, or they may commit a breach of faith towards him, so as to justify resistance and even war, a revolution if you please of all the relations existing between them, but no act of omission or aggression between coequal and independent parties can be construed into a rebellion.”

-Hugh Garland

“Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.”

-Thurgood Marshall

“When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself public property.”

-Thomas Jefferson

“The nature of the Federal Constitution…is a compact based upon cautious and jealous specifications. The distinguished body of men who framed it, guarded and defined every power that was to be exercised through the agency of the General Government—and every other power not enumerated in the compact, was to be reserved and exercised by the States.”

-Maria H. Pinckney

“Under Lenin the Soviet Union was like a religious revival, under Stalin like a prison, under Khrushchev like a circus, and under Brezhnev like the U.S. Post Office.” November 7, 1977

-Jimmy Carter

“As the British Constitution is the most subtle organism which has proceeded from the womb and long gestation of progressive history, so the American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”

-W. E. Gladstone

“I believe in the sovereignty and reserved powers of the States.”

-John W. Ellis

“I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”

-Duke Morrison

“When we speak of peace, we should not mean just the absence of war. True peace rests on the pillars of individual freedom, human rights, national self-determination, and respect for the rule of law.” Televised address to the nation before the U.S.-Soviet Summit in Geneva, November 14, 1985

-Ronald Reagan

“In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness.” National Gazette Essay, January 18, 1792

-James Madison

“While affected deeply by the evils which afflict our country, we can still look upon them without compunction, and say, “Though thou art desolate, my country, it is not this hand hath made thee so. No! Nor was it the hand of the alien foe who waged war against thee, so much as the hands of men whom thou didst nourish in thine own bosom ; who breathed thy breath; who drank from thy cool fountains; who basked in the shade of thy magnificent groves ; whose ears were filled with the warbling of thy birds; whose eyes rested on the placid, yet luxuriant, beauty of thy landscapes; who fed upon the fruits thou dost so bountifully yield; aye, and the bones of whose forefathers and departed kindred had found a resting place beneath thy soul!” All this, and more, they may say—in sorrow, it is true, but with a consoling consciousness of personal rectitude. The value of this reward will be better appreciated when we reflect, what must not be the bitter self-reproach and unavailing regret of those who have failed in their duty to the country in its hour of need. This reflection suggests to us the fact, that the present reward of the faithful soldier… consists not only in a positive pleasure of the highest kind, but in an escape from an evil, the greatest of all others, the lashings of a guilty conscience. I say the present reward, in contradistinction to that ultimate reward, which must crown their labors in the vindication and establishment of the great principle of constitutional liberty for which they put them forth. Like a noble ship in the storm, it has gone down into the trough of the sea, and is submerged beneath mountain billows; its masts and rigging are swept away and its crew are paralyzed by the might of the elements; but when the calm returns, and the demons of the deep cease to lash it in their fury, it will rise buoyantly up; and if a sufficient number of its crew have clung faithfully to it, and are not washed overboard, it will soon be rigged anew, and move on in its course with that majesty and power which characterized it when it was first launched upon the main.”

-Llewellyn Shaver

“There comes a time when a moral man can’t obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Freedom to publish and read does not necessarily assure a society of justice and peace, but without these freedoms it has no assurance at all.”

-Myra Kostash

“I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.”

-R. Edward Lee

“The people will learn to feel the dignity of man. They will not merely demand their rights, which have been trampled in the dust, but themselves will take them – make them their own.”

-Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

“I have had a good opportunity of testing the utility of Colt’s pistols during the late Mexican War, and feel no hesitation in saying they are superior (in my opinion) to any other now known for cavalry. The danger of accidental explosion has been obviated by the late improvement. They go off clear. The cylinders revolve with great rapidity, and the distance they carry a ball (I mean the conical ball) is indeed surprising. Soldiers should be practiced in the use of them. They soon become easy to the hand; the aim you wish to draw can be easily caught; and when placed in the hands of those who understand the proper use of them, they are unquestionably the most formidable weapon ever used in battle. I therefore concur fully in the opinion that they can be used with the same advantage by the regular as volunteer forces.”

-Colonel Jack Hays, Texas Rangers

“Many law professors, and others who hold contempt for our Constitution, preach that the Constitution is a living document. Saying that the Constitution is a living document is the same as saying we don’t have a Constitution. For rules to mean anything, they must be fixed. How many people would like to play me in poker and have the rules be “living?” Depending on “evolving standards,” maybe my two pair could beat your flush.”

-Walter Williams

“We hold with Thomas Jefferson, to the inalienable right of communities to alter or abolish forms of government that have become oppressive or injurious.”

-New York Tribune

“I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

-Voltaire

“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

-Barry Goldwater

“Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.”

-Abraham Lincoln

“At the core, the American citizen soldiers in World War II knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn’t want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.”

-Stephen Ambrose

“We cannot go on penalizing Americans for saving.”

-John Connally

Jul 18th, 2015 Interesting Quotes in History