No. 25-5491

Daniel James Caldwell v. Texas for the Protection of Jennifer Zimmerman

Lower Court: Texas
Docketed: 2025-08-28
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP
Tags: constitutional-rights due-process judicial-authority parent-child-relationship restraining-order second-amendment
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2026-01-09 (distributed 2 times)
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether a lifetime, nationwide restraining order permanently revoking Second Amendment rights without judicial findings of probable cause for a civil or criminal offense, and without exceptions for time, place, or military service, violates constitutional guarantees of due process, and of the right to bear arms.

2. Whether such an order is void ab initio when signed by a retired former judge who, under Texas Constitution Article 16, Section 1, no longer legally held any state or judicial office.

3. Whether mandamus and habeas corpus relief is warranted to vacate an unconstitutional restraint imposed without lawful authority or evidentiary basis.

4. Whether Petitioner's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by ineffective assistance of appointed counsel in a related proceeding arising from an arrest for possession of, not a firearm, but a bullet.

5. Whether a lifetime designation as a vexatious litigant is void when imposed by another retired former judge who also lacked lawful authority under Texas Constitution Article 16, Section 1, upheld in a related appellate decision.

6. Whether a lifetime prohibition on all contact with one's child, imposed without a showing of unfitness or evidentiary hearing, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments under the principles articulated in M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102 (1996).

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a lifetime, nationwide restraining order permanently revoking Second Amendment rights without judicial findings of probable cause violates constitutional due process and right to bear arms

Docket Entries

2026-01-12
Rehearing DENIED.
2025-12-10
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
2025-11-26
Petition for Rehearing filed.
2025-11-10
Petition DENIED.
2025-10-09
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/7/2025.
2025-09-25
Waiver of right of respondent Texas for the Protection of Zimmerman to respond filed.
2025-08-11
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due September 29, 2025)

Attorneys

Daniel J. Caldwell
Daniel James Caldwell — Petitioner
Texas for the Protection of Zimmerman
Carly DessauerWilliamson County Attorney's Office, Respondent