Tag Archives: State: Texas

Religion Clause Blog: In Roberts v. Roberts, (TX App., Dec. 19, 2012), a Texas appeals court rejected a father’s Establishment Clause challenge to a provision in a divorce decree under which his former wife was given the right to pick up the children for religious classes on Sundays on which the father otherwise had possession of the children.

Liberty Institute: The San Angelo Police Department of San Angelo, Texas, is the newest target of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s (FFRF) aggressive efforts to systematically remove faith from public view.

AP: A Central Texas school board is banning the Confederate battle flag from district property and district-sponsored events.

The Texas Tribune: The bill, authored by state Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, would abolish the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for all criminal matters, and bring all criminal cases under the Texas Supreme Court, which now hears only civil and juvenile cases.

Gayopolis: In related news, the anti-gay Texas Values group, along with the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a “Memorandum of Law” to Abbott’s office last week explaining why the group believes that DP benefits offered by Pflugerville Independent School District violate state law.

Newsmax: Texas conservatives have big plans to pass new anti-abortion laws in 2013, thanks to a large Republican majority in the state legislature.

KTRE.com: A group that previously attacked an East Texas county for its nativity scene is back again. This time hitting Houston County. But officials there say it’s not going anywhere.

Lamar W. Hankins at San Marcos Mercury: An on-line review of agendas from 30 Austin-area communities reveals that almost half of area city councils use their elected positions to promote religion. Of those 30 towns and cities, 14 begin their meetings with invocations (usually prayers) according to their agendas. While nearly 47% of area municipalities promote this religious practice, the rest do not. Austin is the largest city in the area to do so.

Statesman.com: Nearly two months after the Pflugerville school district announced it would offer insurance benefits next year to domestic partners, the school board is reviving the controversial issue.

ABC (AP): Texas wants to take ownership of Warren Jeffs’ polygamist ranch where the convicted sect leader and his followers sexually assaulted children, state prosecutors said Wednesday.

Statesman.com: Gov. Rick Perry on Monday appointed his chief of staff, Jeffrey S. Boyd, to fill a vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court.

Religion Clause Blog: The Rutherford Institute announced Wednesday that it has obtained a temporary restraining order in a suit filed in state court in Bexar County, Texas on behalf of high school student Andrea Hernandez.

KHOU.com (includes video): Greene is an atheist from San Antonio. He threatened to sue Henderson County last winter over the nativity scene on its courthouse lawn, which has been displayed each Christmas for more than a decade. But Greene backed off the suit when his health began to fail. As a sign of Christian goodwill, a church in Athens raised money, and sent Greene hundreds of dollars to help him and his wife through the health scare. Greene said they were genuinely touched by the people’s “generosity and kindness,” so they bought a star for the county’s nativity scene. He sent the star in March.

Education News: After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio effective November 26th, according to a letter sent by the district that has now been made public.

LifeSiteNews: With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), she plans to expose at least 87,000 instances of fraud during her time as a clinic manager in Southeast Texas.

LifeNews: On Thursday, in a letter to the Third Court of Appeals, Planned Parenthood admitted that they have been charging women for services that should be free under the Women’s Health Program (WHP), which serves low-income Texan women. Providers enrolled in the program are reimbursed by the federal government.

Texas A&M University has agreed to revise its student organization funding policy in the wake of an Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuit filed after officials denied funds to a conservative student group while approving funds for other groups.

Family Research Council: One of those states–Texas–will be hearing its first arguments on the issue this week in U.S. District Court, thanks to former Planned Parenthood director-turned-whistleblower Abby Johnson. With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), she plans to expose at least 87,000 instances

Houston Family Law Blog: Big news out of the Texas Supreme Court for would-be-divorcers. The Texas Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision allowing standardized “do-it-yourself” divorce forms for lower income couples who have trouble paying the fees of Texas divorce lawyers, reports The Dallas Morning News.

KHOU.com (includes video): A bill submitted by State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) would create new crackdowns on abortion-inducing drugs, including requiring patients and doctors to sign a detailed contract. A bill similar to Patrick’s SB 97 failed to pass the legislature last session. State Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) filed HB 58, which would alter current law to remove language banning “entities that perform or promote elective abortions or affiliate with entities that perform or promote elective abortions” from participating in state programs which provide women’s health care, a change that would ostensibly allow Planned Parenthood to resume legal participation in the Women’s Health Program.

ABC: The petition to “Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government,” was submitted on Friday of last week. Just three days later, it zoomed past the 25,000 mark at 3:22 p.m. today and kept going.

One News Now: “The Houston management team announced to all those who were present that it had been falsely billing the Texas Women’s Health Program for services that are not reimbursable,” Norton details about a Planned Parenthood management meeting in Houston.

Available for media interviews following Norton’s oral argument against motions to dismiss Johnson v. Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, a lawsuit that alleges “repeated false, fraudulent, and ineligible claims for Medicaid reimbursements” through the Texas Women’s Health Program

Wesley Smith at National Review: An unusual custody battle involving a surrogate mother and two Houston men is playing out in a Harris County courtroom.Cindy Close, 48, gave birth to twins at Texas Children’s Medical Center in July, but on the night of their birth she was visited by a social worker. “She told me we had a surrogacy situation,” Close said. “I looked at her and said ‘I’m not a surrogate, what are you talking about?’”

The inter-ethnic, interdenominational coalition of pastors that originally opposed the decision by Pflugerville ISD to extend employee benefits to domestic partners expressed appreciation to State Senator Dan Patrick for his bold leadership in requesting an opinion by Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Star Telegram: The district says the students are speaking under a state law that requires school districts to establish a “limited public forum,” giving students the right to speak publicly before all school events. Juniors and seniors interested in speaking are selected at random, Birdville schools spokesman Mark Thomas said.

Religion Clause Blog: Texas Election Code Sec. 85.036 prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of an early polling location. Apparently based on this section, a poll worker in Williamson County, Texas last week required a voter to put on a jacket to cover the words “Vote the Bible” on her T-shirt before the worker would allow the voter to cast a ballot.

Politico: Iowa has joined Texas in warning international election observers of possible criminal prosecution if they violate state laws and get near polling places on Election Day.

Courthouse News Service: In a 3-2 vote along party lines, the court approved a subsidy for the purchase or continuation of private medical insurance for any county employee’s domestic partner and children, according to the court’s agenda.

AP: The governor traveled to a health clinic north of Austin on Wednesday to announce that the state is ready to begin a program with only Texas funds starting Thursday. Health and Human Service Commissioner Kyle Janek said the program will not begin operating immediately and may not take effect until the end of the year since Texas expects federal funding to continue at least until Dec. 31 . . . Complicating matters are three lawsuits that remain unresolved.

Baptist Press: A judge in Austin, Texas, ordered the state Oct. 26 to put a stop for the time being to enforcement of a law that prohibits Planned Parenthood from participating in a women’s health program. State judge Amy Clark Meachum scheduled a Nov. 8 hearing in Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, in addition to issuing the temporary restraining order, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

KLTV.com: An East Texas county is denying an atheist organization’s request to display an anti-religious banner on the courthouse lawn this Christmas.

Houston Chronicle: Three of the nine court seats are on the ballot, but just one Republican faces a Democratic opponent. Justice Nathan Hecht is being challenged by San Antonio lawyer Michele Petty, a Democrat, along with candidates running under the Libertarian and Green banners.

The Hill: So far, six states have passed laws that seek to defund Planned Parenthood on their own — and the courts have blocked all six.

Reuters: Planned Parenthood family planning providers in Texas filed a new lawsuit on Friday over a rule that bars its clinics from a state health program for low-income women because the organization performs abortions . . . The new lawsuit tries a different legal tactic, filing in state rather than federal court, and arguing that the way the Texas rule is written violates state law.

CNSNews: The head of an international body that will monitor the U.S. elections next month protested to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday after Texas’ attorney-general warned that any international observer who approaches a polling station in the state risks criminal prosecution.

Religion Clause Blog:  In Cannata v. Catholic Diocese of Austin, (5th Cir., Oct. 24, 2012), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Americans With Disabilities Act brought against the Diocese of Austin by a former Music Director at a Catholic church.

MySanAntonio.com: The entire sign at the church reads, “VOTE FOR THE MORMON, NOT THE MUSLIM! THE CAPITALIST, NOT THE COMMUNIST!”

Republicans locked in close races – from Mitt Romney to Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown – on Wednesday disavowed Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s comment that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, “that’s something God intended.” . . . The Republican hopeful told reporters Wednesday that he meant only that God creates life, and that rape is evil.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: A Texas church that posted a marquee message urging people to “vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim” violated federal tax law and should suffer the consequences, Americans United for Separation of Church and State told the Internal Revenue Service today. Ray Miller, pastor of the Church in the Valley in Leakey, Texas, posted the message on the church’s marquee. The full message read, “VOTE FOR THE MORMON, NOT THE MUSLIM! THE CAPITALIST, NOT THE COMMUNIST!”

Education News: Lawyers representing hundreds of school districts challenging the state’s school funding system argued Monday that it’s “hopelessly broken,” but an attorney for the state said the situation isn’t as dire as the districts portray.

AP: Prosecutors cited the need for judicial economy, noting that Jeffs is already serving a life prison sentence.

ABC: A judge says an East Texas school district policy barring cheerleaders from quoting biblical scripture on banners at high school football games appears to violate their free speech rights.

Church Report: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Wednesday he will defend high school cheerleaders who want to use Bible verses on banners at football games . . . “This is student-led expression, and that’s perfectly constitutional,” Abbott said. “We will not allow atheist groups from outside the state of Texas to come into the state to use menacing and misleading and intimidating tactics to try to bully schools to bow down to the alter of secular beliefs.”

LifeNews: Thanks to a cut in taxpayer funding, the Planned Parenthood abortion business has announced it will close one of its abortion clinics, that operates in Abilene, Texas.

Opposing Views: Strip club owners sued Houston, claiming the city is unconstitutionally taxing them $5 per customer to fund the city’s backlog on processing of rape kits.

Religion Clause Blog: In Wood County, Texas yesterday, a state trial court dismissed a lawsuit that had been brought challenging the County Commissioners’ routine opening of their sessions with prayer and seeking removal of the “In God We Trust” motto prominently displayed in the county commissioners’ meeting room.

PR Newswire: Today, Liberty Institute and its local counsel Bryan Hughes on behalf of the Wood County Commissioner’s Court applauds the ruling of a state district judge who granted a summary judgment, dismissing the lawsuit against the County for opening its sessions in prayer and for displaying in its courtroom America’s national motto “In God We Trust.” The ruling was made during a summary judgment hearing at the Wood County Courthouse in Quitman, Texas.

Citizen Link: The Liberty Institute announced Thursday its formation of Texas Values, an organization dedicated to the preservation of faith, family and freedom in the state.

LifeNews: The University of Texas in Houston School of Public Health (UTSPH) has removed evidence from its website showing Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast as its “partner agency.” The removal comes after STOPP revealed last week that the UT Prevention Research Center is partnering with Planned Parenthood in its core activity, “the diffusion of effective health promotion programs to health and education agencies, and the provision of training to health agency professionals to develop and evaluate effective health promotion programs locally and nationally.”

David Bernstein at the Volokh Conspiracy: Justice Alito . . . If you have -you have an applicant whose parents are — let’s say they’re — one of them is a partner in your law firm in Texas, another one is a part — is another corporate lawyer. They have income that puts them in the top 1 percent of earners in the country, and they have -parents both have graduate degrees. They deserve a leg-up against, let’s say, an Asian or a white applicant whose parents are absolutely average in terms of education and income? . . .

Hilltop News: Various civil rights groups gathered at a landmark Austin City Hall meeting to hear an announcement they have awaited for years–a resolution to support marriage equality in the state of Texas.

Christian Post: A day after receiving a letter from the FFRF, the superintendent of the Kountze ISD banned the banners. He says he’s a Christian, but that the Supreme Court ruled religion must be kept out of the public schools. That’s hogwash according to Liberty Institute, the national, non-profit law firm that represents the cheerleaders. All twelve girls, along with one parent each, signed on to a lawsuit requesting the court delay enforcement of the superintendent’s ban. A judge granted a temporary restraining order . . .

Statesman.com: Passionate calls to action were met with a chorus of “amens” at the Hays County Commissioners Court this morning as about 25 residents urged commissioners to continue starting their weekly meetings with a prayer.

WISTV: Liberty Institute senior counsel Mike Johnson says the Supreme Court has ruled that students don’t lose their constitutional rights when they enter school.

Statesman.com: Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright will step down at the end of this month to join the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm’s Austin office, the court announced Wednesday.

News-Journal.com (Wood County Democrat): A hearing is set on Oct. 16 on a lawsuit filed by a man who objects to Wood County having “In God We Trust” posted in the courtroom as well as commissioners beginning each of their sessions with prayer. In May the commissioners agreed to retain services from the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Institute for representation in the suit filed by Charles Frederick Scott, III, of Hawkins alleging the county is violating the U.S. Constitution . . . Erin Leu of Liberty Institute said, “The law is entirely clear in this.” She noted there are two issues . . .

LifeNews: The president of United Airlines is hosting a gala fundraiser for a Texas-based affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

FFRF: The Kountze High School Lions will no longer run through banners inscribed with religious messages before the start of football games in Kountze, Texas. On Sept. 17, Stephanie Schmitt, Freedom From Religion Foundation staff attorney wrote Superintendent Kevin Weldon of the Kountze Independent School District: “It is our information and understanding that Kountze High School cheerleaders regularly display religious banners that the football team runs through before athletic competitions.

Mineola Monitor: A hearing is set on Oct. 16 on a lawsuit filed by a man who objects to Wood County having “In God We Trust” posted in the courtroom as well as commissioners beginning each of their sessions with prayer. In May the commissioners agreed to retain services from the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Institute for representation in the suit filed by Charles Frederick Scott, III, of Hawkins alleging the county is violating the U.S. Constitution. This month Liberty Institute, on behalf of the Wood County Commissioners court, filed a motion for summary judgement “to end the frivolous lawsuit.”

Public News Service: The report by ACLU of Texas examines the current state of public school compliance with the First Amendment.

eNews Park Forest: Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate an El Paso Catholic church that called for the defeat of President Barack Obama.

Baptist Press: Terry Turner, president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), endorsed a petition that defends the biblical definition of marriage and rejected the notion that homosexuality is a civil rights issue during a chapel service at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Sept. 5.

Findlaw: Planned Parenthood isn’t quite finished with its challenge to a Texas law that defunds the organization within the Lone Star State. On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc rehearing of a three-judge panel’s decision in Planned Parenthood Association, et al v. Thomas Suehs. The panel ruled last month that Texas can block Women’s Health Program (WHP) funding to Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers that offer abortions.

El Paso Times: St. Raphael Catholic Church on the city’s East Side might have violated an Internal Revenue Service rule that prohibits tax-exempt churches from taking sides when it comes to candidates seeking political office in its Aug. 5 bulletin. “I am asking all of you to go to the polls and be united in replacing our present president with a president that will respect the Catholic Church in this country,” the end of the entry in the bulletin says. “Please pass this on to all of your Catholic friends.”

Dallas Morning News: Texas has now spent more than $2 million defending its law to require photo identification to vote and its redrawing of political boundaries, officials said after federal judges sided against the state in both cases last week

Chicago Tribune: Planned Parenthood asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to reconsider a ruling that would allow Texas to exclude it from a health program for low-income women

Business Week: State lawmakers, hospital system administrators and dozens of women urged Texas officials Tuesday not to sever funding to Planned Parenthood under a law barring state support for clinics affiliated with abortion providers.

Texas Tribune: Certain characteristics set the Laredo Independent School District apart from most districts in the state. Its western boundary aligns directly with the Mexican border. Nearly all its students are poor, and nearly all are Hispanic. Most rely on the school to provide two meals a day. On the first day of school this week, some showed up without shoes or without parents accompanying them . . . By 2050, the number of Texas public school students is expected to swell to nine million from roughly five million now, and nearly two-thirds will be Hispanic, according to Steve Murdock, a demographer and director of Rice University’s Hobby Center for the Study of Texas. The overall percentage of white students will drop by half to about 15 percent . . .

ACLU: A U.S. District Court today blocked Texas’ new voter ID law because it discriminates against minorities and conflicts with the federal Voting Rights Act . . . For a copy of the decision, go to: www.aclu.org/voting-rights/texas-voter-id-decision

Christian Institute: A federal court has found evidence of discrimination in Texas voting maps drawn by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature.

Dallas News: It’s being done on behalf of a young woman named Ashanti McShan, who, while in her senior year in high school two summers ago, went to work at a Grand Prairie Burger King operated by local franchisee Fries Restaurant Management. McShan is Pentecostal, and, as such, a by-the-book follower of the Bible, which says right there in Deuteronomy 22:5, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”

Wesley J. Smith at LifeNews: Texas has an awful futile care law. It permits hospital bioethics committees to impose members/doctors’ values that a patient’s life is not worth living based on quality of life. A story just out shows the injustice of the process–a terrible law about which I write here in more detail . . . There are so many things wrong here that cry out for a lawsuit. Calling Alliance Defending Freedom! Calling Alliance Defending Freedom. There is a life to save. Again. Calling Alliance Defending Freedom!

LifeSiteNews: The fate of a 12-year-old boy injured by a gunshot to the head is in dispute after his mother, who is refusing to let doctors remove the boy’s organs for donation, had discovered that his food and water supply had been stopped.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortions or abortion advocacy. The court’s decision against the position of Planned Parenthood and the Obama administration again demonstrates that abortionists and their political allies are bluffing when they say that states cannot stop taxpayer funding from being used to subsidize abortions, whether directly or indirectly. The court has done the right thing in upholding the right of Texas to exclude this kind of funding from the program, especially for organizations like Planned Parenthood, which is currently under investigation by Congress for fraud.”