Abbott v. City of San Antonio

Greg ABBOTT, in his Official Capacity as Governor of Texas, Appellant v. CITY OF SAN ANTONIO and County of Bexar, Appellees

No. 04-21-00342-CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio

August 19, 2021

From the 45th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2021CI16133 Honorable Antonia Arteaga, Judge Presiding

Sitting: Irene Rios, Justice Beth Watkins, Justice Liza A Rodriguez, Justice.

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

Before us is an emergency motion asking this court to exercise its authority under Rule 29.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure to reinstate a temporary injunction during the pendency of this appeal. This appeal, which is accelerated in nature, challenges a temporary injunction restraining the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, and his agents and employees from enforcing sections of Executive Order GA-38 to the extent it prohibits local officials and governmental entities from requiring masks or face coverings be worn in certain settings in the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a)(4) (authorizing an appeal from an interlocutory order that grants or refuses a temporary injunction). For the reasons set out below, we grant the emergency motion. See Tex. R. App. P. 29.3.

Background

On August 10, 2021, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County filed a declaratory judgment suit challenging Executive Order GA-38, which was signed by the Governor on July 29, 2021. Executive Order GA-38 provides, with some exceptions, that "No governmental entity, including a county, city, school district, and public health authority, and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face covering or to mandate that another person wear a face covering . . . ." The City and County's suit alleges that the Governor acted ultra vires and outside the scope of his authority under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 and, alternatively, that the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 violates the Texas Constitution. The City and County's suit also includes an application for a temporary injunction.

The trial court held a hearing on the temporary injunction application on Monday, August 16, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. After the hearing, the trial court signed an order granting the temporary injunction.^[1] Specifically, the temporary injunction order restrains the Governor, in his official capacity "and each of his agents, employees, or those in active participation in concert with him from, enforcing [s]ections 3(b), 3(g), 4, and 5(a) of Executive Order GA-38 to the extent those provisions (1) prohibit the City of San Antonio and Bexar County from requiring City and County employees or visitors to City- and County-owned facilities to wear masks or face coverings; or (2) prohibit the San Antonio and Bexar County Public Health Authority from requiring masks in public schools in the City and County."^[2] The temporary injunction order also sets the case for trial on the merits on December 13, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.

Hours after the trial court signed the temporary injunction order, the Governor filed a notice of appeal in this court.^[3] The Governor's notice of appeal states that "[u]pon filing of this instrument" the temporary injunction order "is superseded" pursuant to Rule 29.1(b) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure^[4] and section 6.001(b) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.^[5]

The appellees, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, acknowledge that the Governor's notice of appeal suspended the trial court's temporary injunction. However, in the emergency motion, the City and County ask us to preserve their rights by issuing an order reinstating the trial court's temporary injunction.

Analysis

Initially we address this court's authority to grant the relief sought in the emergency motion. "When an appeal from an interlocutory order is perfected, the appellate court may make any temporary orders necessary to preserve the parties' rights until disposition of the appeal and may require appropriate security." Tex.R.App.P. 29.3. Under Rule 29.3, Texas intermediate appellate courts have inherent judicial power to preserve the parties' rights during the pendency of an interlocutory appeal. Tex. Educ. Agency v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 609 S.W.3d 569, 577 (Tex. App.-Austin 2020, order). The Texas Supreme Court has acknowledged this inherent judicial power, holding that one of our sister courts, the Austin court of appeals, had the authority under Rule 29.3 to provide relief from the state's automatic right to suspend a temporary injunction. In re Tex. Educ. Agency, 619 S.W.3d 692 (Tex. 2021) (orig. proceeding) (holding "court of appeals was not without power to issue temporary relief" under Rule 29.3 from state's automatic suspending of the trial court's temporary injunction). In another case, the Texas Supreme Court confirmed that nothing prevents a party "from asking the court of appeals to protect it from irreparable harm. Rule 29.3 expressly contemplates that such relief is directly available in the court of appeals." In re Geomet Recycling LLC, 578 S.W.3d 82, 89 (Tex. 2019) (orig. proceeding). We conclude that we have the authority to grant the emergency motion under Rule 29.3 and the relevant case law.

The Texas Supreme Court has also recognized that under Rule 29.3, Texas intermediate appellate courts have "great flexibility in preserving the status quo based on the unique facts and circumstances presented." Id. The Texas Supreme Court defines "the status quo" as "the last, actual, peaceable, non-contested status which preceded the pending controversy." In re Newton, 146 S.W.3d 648, 651 (Tex. 2004) (orig. proceeding) (citing Janus Films, Inc. v. City of Fort Worth, 358 S.W.2d 589, 589 (Tex. 1962)).

The City and County's authority to administer public health measures is established by the Texas Legislature. See, e.g., Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 81.082, 121.003, 122.006, 341.081; see also Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 418.1015, 418.108; see also Tex. Local Gov't Code Ch. 54. Effective July 29, 2021, Executive Order GA-38 suspended these and "[a]ny other statute invoked by any local governmental entity or official in support of a face-covering requirement." By their suit, the City and County challenge the issuance of Executive Order GA-38, alleging that the Governor acted ultra vires and outside the scope of his authority under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 and, alternatively, that the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 violates the Texas Constitution. In the present case, Executive Order GA-38, which was issued on July 29, 2021, altered the status quo, which had allowed local governmental entities to implement and enforce policies reasonably necessary to protect public health. The trial court's temporary injunction restored the status quo. However, as previously mentioned, the filing of the notice of appeal automatically suspended the temporary injunction order and, once again, altered the status quo. See In re Tex. Educ. Agency, 619 S.W.3d at 683-84 ("Instead of preserving the status quo, however, suspension of the temporary injunction would, in this case, have the contradictory effect of permitting the status quo to be altered.").

In their emergency motion, the City and County argue that an order reinstating the trial court's temporary injunction will prevent irreparable harm and preserve their rights. They emphasize that the trial court expressly found in its temporary injunction order that the City and County "will suffer irreparable injury before trial on the merits through the inability to impose masking requirements to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus that threatens to overwhelm the capacity of the healthcare system in the City and County and to cause the City and County to reduce services to the community and furlough workers." They also point to a previous Executive Order, GA-29, in which the Governor recognized that "wearing face coverings is one of the most important and effective tools for reducing the spread of COVID-19."

Additionally, attached to the emergency motion are affidavits from two of the witnesses who testified at the temporary injunction hearing. These affidavits include the affidavit of Dr. Junda Woo, a medical doctor and the San Antonio and Bexar County Public Health Authority, and Erik Walsh, the City Manager for the City of San Antonio.^[6]

In her affidavit, which is dated August 9, 2021, Dr. Woo testifies that in her capacity as the local health authority, she is responsible for enforcing public health law and implementing rules and guidelines to slow the spread of the disease in the local community. Dr. Woo evaluates the effect of the delta variant of COVID-19 on local hospitals, public schools, and city and county operations. Specifically, Woo testifies that "Bexar County is currently at a 'severe level' under our risk guidelines, with a hospital stress score that is approaching critical levels"; that "[i]n the next week, local hospitals are likely to surpass the number of patients they had during June 2020"; that "[t]his situation is due to the contagiousness of the [d]elta variant and the fact that significant pockets of the population remain unvaccinated"; and that "[u]nlike last year when each person with COVID would typically infect two...