Ex Parte Spring

I join in the dissenting opinion of my Brother Judge Roberts. I further dissent on the basis of our own State Constitution. It is unquestioned that the Legislature has the power to prescribe jurisdictional modifications under Article Y, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution. However, that power is simultaneously circumscribed by the provisions of Article I, Section 3 of our Constitution which provide, in pertinent part:

“All free men . . . have equal rights, and no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments or privileges . . . .” (Emphasis added.)

The inevitable…