Grassroots Leadership, Inc. v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, 646 S.W.3d 815

In 2014 ICE detained families at the Dilley and Karnes residential centers, operated by private prison companies (CoreCivic and GEO). A 2015 federal Flores order found those centers lacked appropriate child-care licensure and enjoined family detention there.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services adopted Rule 26 Tex. Admin. Code § 748.7 (first emergency, then formal), which exempts family residential centers from a prior limitation forbidding children from sharing bedrooms with adults "if the bedroom is being shared in order to allow a child to remain with the child’s parent or other family member."
Grassroots Leadership sued to challenge Rule 748.7; plaintiffs later included detained mothers, their children, and a day-care operator. Plaintiffs alleged the Rule allowed unrelated adults to share rooms with children, leading to privacy invasions and at least one sexual assault, and that the Rule lengthened detention.
The trial court invalidated Rule 748.7 and enjoined licensure under it. The court of appeals reversed, holding the plaintiffs lacked standing because the Rule did not permit a minor to share a bedroom with an unrelated adult and any increased detention was attributable to federal policy and the Flores decree.
The Texas Supreme Court granted review, held the detained mothers and children have standing, reversed the court of appeals’ judgment, and remanded for further consideration of remaining jurisdictional issues and the merits.

Issue	Plaintiffs' Argument	Respondents' Argument	Held
Whether detainees have standing to challenge Rule 748.7	Plaintiffs alleged concrete personal injuries (sexual assault; increased risk; invasion of privacy) traceable to Rule 748.7 and redressable by prohibiting licensure under the Rule	Respondents argued plaintiffs lack standing: the Rule does not allow unrelated adults to share rooms with minors; harms predated the Rule and stem from federal policy/consent decree	Held: Plaintiffs have standing — injuries are concrete, traceable to the Rule, and redressable
Whether Rule 748.7 permits unrelated adults to share bedrooms with children	Rule text allows room-sharing to keep a child with their family and does not constrain who may share the room	Respondents urged the Rule should be read to prohibit unrelated adults from sharing with minors	Held: Text of §748.7(c) permits adult-child room-sharing in furtherance of keeping a child with family and is unconstrained as to who actually shares the room
Whether alleged increased length of detention is traceable to Rule 748.7	Plaintiffs alleged the Rule contributed to longer detention at the centers	Respondents said any lengthening stems from federal policy and Flores decree, not the Rule	Held: Court resolved standing based on assault/risk and invasion-of-privacy allegations and did not rely on the length-of-detention theory; it left other jurisdictional/merit issues for the court of appeals on remand

Heckman v. Williamson Cnty., 369 S.W.3d 137 (Tex. 2012) (Texas standing standard: concrete injury traceable to defendant and redressable relief)
Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737 (1984) (traceability standard: injury need only be "fairly traceable")
Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154 (1997) (defendant action can be "determinative or coercive" and make harm traceable)
TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021) (substantial risk can support injunctive-relief standing when grounded in specific alleged facts)
Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA, 568 U.S. 398 (2013) (standing from substantial risk requires concrete factual allegations)
Crosstex N. Tex. Pipeline, L.P. v. Gardiner, 505 S.W.3d 580 (Tex. 2016) (recognizing invasion of privacy as a legally cognizable personal injury)