Judge
James
Dennis
was
a
member
of
the
original
panel,
concurring
in
part
and
dissenting
in
part
from
the
panel
opinion.
See
Woodlands
Pride,
Inc.
v.
Paxton,
157
F.4th
775,
789–803
(5th
Cir.
2025)
(Dennis,
J.,
concurring
in
part
and
dissenting
in
part).
Judge
Dennis
took
inactive
status
from
the
Court
on
February
23,
2026,
and
therefore
did
not
participate
in
this
decision
to
withdraw
and
substitute
the
panel
opinion.
This
case
is
decided
by
a
quorum
under
28
U.S.C.
§
46(d).
—
Judge
Kurt
D.
Engelhardt,
joined
by
Judge
Leslie
Southwick,
writing
for
a…
unanimous?…
2-0
panel
of
the
Fifth
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals.
This
opinion
was
issued
in
November,
with
the
judges
ruling
that
Texas
could
enforce
its
ban
on
drag
performances
while
litigation
continued.
But
it
included
a
partial
dissent
from
Judge
James
Dennis
that
called
out
the
majority’s
sloppy
reasoning,
misapprehending
applicable
law
and
disregarding
“unrebutted
testimony
and
record
evidence.”
So,
with
Judge
Dennis
taking
inactive
status
—
the
following
February
—
they
just
purged
his
opinion.
Gabriel
Malor
caught
the
new
edit,
noting
that
the
result
was
unchanged
and
“the
only
things
they
added
were
a
footnote
on
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
claims
and
a
paragraph
expanding
on
facial
challenges.”