OPINION
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Severance vs.Patterson (Tex. 2011 Per Curiam Opinion)
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FULL TEXT OF OPINION [ coming soon ]
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CAROL SEVERANCE, Petitioner,
v.
JERRY PATTERSON, COMMISSIONER OF THE TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE; GREG ABBOTT,
ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS; AND KURT SISTRUNK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE
COUNTY OF GALVESTON, TEXAS, Respondents.
No. 09-0387.
Supreme Court of Texas.
Opinion Delivered: July 29, 2011.
Chief Justice JEFFERSON did not participate in the decision.
PER CURIAM.
Pursuant to article V, section 3-c of the Texas Constitution and Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 58.1, this
Court agreed to answer questions of state law certified from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit. We issued the opinion on November 5, 2010. We later granted rehearing. While rehearing was
pending, Appellant Carol Severance sold the property at issue to the City of Galveston in a Federal Emergency
Management Agency buyout program for homes damaged by Hurricane Ike. Appellees contend that
Severance's sale of the real property renders moot both the underlying lawsuit and our consideration of the
certified questions on rehearing, and warrants vacating the original opinion. Severance disputes these
contentions. The parties have notified the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit of the sale.
The determination whether the federal lawsuit is moot must be made by the Fifth Circuit. We abate our
consideration on rehearing of the certified questions pending this mootness determination.
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OPINION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS BELOW: Court of Appeals
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Also see: Texas Causes of Action | 2011 Texas Supreme Court Opinions | 2011 Tex Sup Ct Per Curiams
Severance v. Patterson, No. 09-0387 (Tex. Jul. 29, 2011)(per curiam)(abatement of Open Beaches Act
case)
Pursuant to article V, section 3-c of the Texas Constitution and Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure
58.1, this Court agreed to answer questions of state law certified from the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. We issued the opinion on November 5, 2010. We later granted rehearing.
While rehearing was pending, Appellant Carol Severance sold the property at issue to the City of
Galveston in a Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout program for homes damaged by
Hurricane Ike. Appellees contend that Severance's sale of the real property renders moot both the
underlying lawsuit and our consideration of the certified questions on rehearing, and warrants vacating
the original opinion. Severance disputes these contentions. The parties have notified the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit of the sale.
The determination whether the federal lawsuit is moot must be made by the Fifth Circuit. We abate our
consideration on rehearing of the certified questions pending this mootness determination.
CAROL SEVERANCE v. JERRY PATTERSON, COMMISSIONER OF THE TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE;
GREG ABBOTT, ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS; AND KURT SISTRUNK, DISTRICT
ATTORNEY FOR THE COUNTY OF GALVESTON, TEXAS
The Court abates consideration on rehearing of the certified questions pending the mootness determination of
the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Per Curiam Opinion [pdf]
(Chief Justice Jefferson not sitting)
View Electronic Briefs
SEVERANCE v. JERRY PATTERSON, COMMISSIONER OF THE TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE