What's interesting about the first one is that the court ruled the charge violated Rick Perry's right to free speech

In its decision Friday, the appeals court found the coercion law was written in such a way that a public official couldn’t know what was political maneuvering and what was an illegal threat.

It cited a similar case in 1990 in which Bosque County Judge Regina Hanson had threatened — unless the county auditor was fired and a person’s probation revoked — to cut the salaries of the deputy district clerk and assistant district attorney.

She was indicted on two misdemeanor charges of illegal coercion, but the trial court dismissed the charges and an appeals court upheld that decision, calling the coercion statute unconstitutionally vague.

The Legislature subsequently tweaked the law, but apparently not well enough.