Tag Archives: State: Texas

Dallas Voice: Texas’ only openly LGBT legislator will be nation’s 1st out pansexual elected official, after saying she rejects both ‘lesbian’ and ‘bisexual’

SCOTUS Blog: The Obama Administration urged the Supreme Court on Monday to uphold the University of Texas’s use of race in selecting its incoming class of students, arguing that the university needed to add that factor to assure that more minorities are enrolled.

CBS Local: CBS 11 has learned a Dallas Police Sergeant brought a sandwich from the embattled restaurant chain to work with him last Wednesday, August 1, a day known around the country as Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. When the Sergeant arrived at his post at the Southeast patrol, words were exchanged between himself and two female officers . . . The DPA points out the two female officers happen to be homosexuals.

Sacramento Bee: Texas medical groups object to a proposed rule for the state Women’s Health Program that would ban abortion counseling, calling it a “gag order” on doctors.

How Appealing links to reports and filings in the matter.

Religion Clause Blog: In two related decisions, Muniz v. City of San Antonio I (WD TX, July 30, 2012), and  Muniz v. City of San Antonio II, (WD TX, July 30, 2012), a Texas federal district court permitted two Christian street preachers to proceed with several of their claims . . .

MarketPlace.org: Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz has defeated lieutenant governor David Dewhurst in a heated Republican primary to run for U.S. Senate in Texas. And at the victory party for Cruz, Chick-Fil-A was served.

AP on Sacramento Bee: John Devine has defeated Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina for the Republican nomination for a spot on the court.

Fox News: The final result: Cruz pummeled Dewhurst by about 13 percentage points, according to the Associated Press.

Incumbent David Medina, on the state’s highest civil court since 2004, boasts support from Gov. Rick Perry, six retired Republican Supreme Court justices, 22 members of the Texas Legislature or U.S. Congress and several politically influential groups, including Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Medical Association. Challenger John Devine, a former district judge, boasts support from members of prominent religious and conservative groups, including Eagle Forum, Concerned Women of Texas and Liberty Institute, which fights legal battles on behalf of Christian priorities and issues.

Religion Clause Blog: Hoyt v. City of El Paso, Texas, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104501 (WD TX, July 10, 2012), presents a claim by an El Paso church and its pastor that Texas and El Paso city officials have chilled the church’s right to circulate recall petitions aimed at the city’s mayor and two city council members because of their role in restoring health benefits to same-sex and unmarried domestic partners of city employees.

Religion Clause Blog: According to YNN Austin, a military judge yesterday held accused Fort Hood mass shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, in contempt for refusing to shave his beard that he is wearing for religious reasons.

The Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) because they threatened and questioned pro-life advocate Andrew Moore at his home in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 13th. The FBI agents talked to Mr. Moore for over an hour about his peaceful free speech activities that take place on public sidewalks outside of Southwestern Abortion Clinic in Dallas. The letter demands that the FBI stop the harassment.

Texas Tribune: In nearly every speech Ted Cruz delivers in his bid for an open U.S. Senate seat, the former Texas solicitor general repeatedly mentions the U.S. Supreme Court.

AP: Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texas won’t establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid . . .

One News: A Texas third-grader will now be allowed to hand out invitations to an after-school Bible club, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . Matt Sharp says the district has gone beyond his firm’s requests.”Something that I think is really important is that they’ve also agreed to provide mandatory teacher training upon the rights of students to engage in religious expression at school for the upcoming school year,” he reports. “So we think this is an incredible win.” [more]

Wall Street Journal: The City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that requires strip clubs to pay a $5-per-visitor fee to help pay for the analysis of biological evidence collected from rape victims in hopes of identifying their attackers. . . . The Texas Supreme Court last year rejected a claim that the state fee, sponsored by Ms. Cohen as a state lawmaker, violates free-speech rights by infringing on a mode of expression: sexually suggestive dancing.

LubbockOnline.com: Texas’ largest charter school organization Tuesday filed the sixth major lawsuit over the way the state funds public education, arguing charter schools should have access to public money for facilities and there should be no limit on the number of charter schools statewide.

LoanSafe.org: “The laws are well established in this area,” said ADF legal counsel David Hacker. “When a university or government opens up a forum for speech, it has to provide essentially equal access. You can’t exclude a speaker because of their viewpoint . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: At issue was the refusal by a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School to allow the student to hand out to his classmates his handwritten invitations to a meeting at a local Baptist Church of Awana Clubs, an evangelical Christian youth organization.

TheEagle.com: “The laws are well established in this area,” said ADF legal counsel David Hacker. “When a university or government opens up a forum for speech, it has to provide essentially equal access. You can’t exclude a speaker because of their viewpoint.”

Dallas Morning Observer: Americans United For Life, one of the nation’s largest anti-abortion advocacy groups, has released its annual report, Defending Life 2012, complete with an enthusiastic blurb from Governor Rick Perry. On the whole, they seem very pleased with Texas and its “aggressive legislative action” to restrict abortion. Texas, they write, has become “one of the most protective states in the nation.”

The Battalion at Texas A&M: TAC is being represented by Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that “provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage and the family.” . . . “We’re hopeful that A&M will work with us to get this resolved before the fall semester,” said David Hacker, legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund.

Jay Schalin at National Review Phi Beta Cons: The latest skirmish in the campus culture war is a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund at Texas A&M. It seems the Texas Aggie Conservatives, a student organization, got tired of coming up empty when it was time to divvy up the activity funding.

A third-grade student will be allowed to distribute Bible club invitations outside of class time in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys against the Nederland Independent School District in April.

Christian Post: “Student groups should not be singled out for discrimination because of their political or religious views,” said ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, not a place where funding earmarked for student groups only goes to the ones the university prefers. ADF has successfully litigated similar cases because the Constitution requires that political and faith-based student organizations not be targeted for discrimination based upon their viewpoints.”

OneNewsNow: ADF attorney David Hacker says that is unconstitutional, especially since the university approved similar requests made by the NAACP, the Muslim Student Association and the Black Student Alliance Council, among others. “From Texas A&M comes a wide variety of student groups and activities and events,” the attorney notes, “and so, to exclude political and religious views from campus is really unfortunate and violates the First Amendment.”

LifeNews: Student groups should not be singled out for discrimination because of their political or religious views,” said ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, not a place where funding earmarked for student groups only goes to the ones the university prefers. ADF has successfully litigated similar cases because the Constitution requires that political and faith-based student organizations not be targeted for discrimination based upon their viewpoints.”

Citizen Link: “Student groups should not be singled out for discrimination because of their political or religious views,” said ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, not a place where funding earmarked for student groups only go to the ones the university prefers. ADF has successfully litigated similar cases because the Constitution requires that political and faith-based student organizations not be targeted for discrimination based upon their viewpoints.”

Religion Clause Blog: Yesterday’s San Antonio Current has a long article about the Shekinah Learning Institute, an educational organization that has created 13 publicly-funded charter schools across Texas, and particularly in the San Antonio area.

Fox44 (television clip): showers and t-storms have come to an end across east texas. rain chances look slim over the next week or so as summer arrives in full force with the hottest temps so far this year in against texas a&m university. the alliance defense fund…… claims the school discriminated against political and religious student groups. and it was filed on behalf of the texas aggie conservatives. the alliance Defense Fund is a legal Alliance…. of christian attorneys and organizations. their goal is to defend the right of people…. to freely live out their faith. a historic move is made….

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Texas A&M University to challenge a policy that unconstitutionally denies funding to political and religious student organizations while providing funds to many other student groups.

LifeNews: A Texas man is being tried for killing an unborn baby during a vicious attack on his girlfriend. Michael Lee Cunningham will be charged with murder for the death of his own five-month-old unborn child, who was miscarried after Cunningham assaulted her mother. He will be facing the death penalty.

Star-Telegram: After more than three decades, the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer will be making a return to Weatherford council chambers. By a 4-1 vote Tuesday night, council members agreed to start their meetings with pledges to both the U.S. and Texas flags and an invocation.

Think Progress: In recent days, state Democratic parties in Montana, Texas, and Pennsylvania have agreed to add marriage equality to their 2012 platforms. Even though same-sex marriage is currently outlawed in all three states, these state Democratic parties have decided that same-sex marriage fully deserves formal recognition on their upcoming agendas.

Education Week: The appeal stems from a long-running lawsuit over several incidents in which administrators in the Plano, Texas, school district allegedly barred students from distributing items such as religious-themed candy canes or pencils with messages like “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” or “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Religion Clause Blog: McClatchy Newspapers reported Friday that at Texas’ Fort Hood, a military judge delayed the pre-trial hearing for accused mass killer Maj. Nidal Hasan because Hasan appeared in court with a full beard, grown for religious reasons.

13WMAZ.com: A religious skeptics’ group says they plan to file another formal complaint to the Houston County Board of Education, contending that two graduation services last month were more like church services.

Wall Street Journal: A federal appeals court in New Orleans is expected to hear arguments later this week over the legality of a Texas rule that bans all Planned Parenthood clinics in the state from a program that subsidizes health services for uninsured, low-income women.

One News Now: He believes these incidents keep occurring throughout the country because school officials are afraid some parents will complain about their children receiving literature with religious content. Meanwhile, birthday party invitations are allowed. “That is not a constitutionally sound reason to say ‘no’ to religious speech,” the attorney asserts. “It’s called a heckler’s veto. You can’t restrict speech because somebody else doesn’t like that speech.” [more quote by Jeremy Tedesco]

The Hill: Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R) has forced a runoff election with Texas Lieutenant Gov. David Dewhurst (R), a victory for the Tea Party candidate against a better-known and much better-funded foe.

Statesman.com: Two Southwest Austin neighborhood associations are suing the City of Austin, seeking an injunction that could stop construction of the 53-acre Dream City church complex near Texas 71 and Southwest Parkway in Oak Hill.

One News Now: In what has come to be known as the “candy cane” case, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the student’s right to express his faith at school had been violated. However, attorney Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute says his group is pursuing further litigation because the court did not hold school officials accountable

TexasGOPVote.com: This is just ridiculous: Nederland ISD has been sued by the Alliance Defense Fund who is representing Michael Metcalf, the father of a 3rd grade student at Hillcrest Elementary School who was prohibited from giving a classmate friend an invitation to go to church with him.

News-Journal.com: On Friday Wood County Commissioners decided after a brief executive session to retain services from the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Institute for representation in a pending lawsuit over prayer and the posting of “In God We Trust” in the courtroom.

Beaumont Enterprise: Jeremy D. Tedesco, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, is representing the boy and his family. Tedesco said the boy’s father, Michael Metcalf, is suing the district for a violation of his son’s constitutional rights.

MarketWatch: The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, has filed an amicus brief with a federal appeals court backing a decision by the state of Texas to stop providing state funds that end up subsidizing Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

One News Now: To accommodate the ACLU, the Lewisville Independent School District has decided to label it “student remarks” instead. Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute says that is unnecessary. “They’re concerned about using the words ‘invocation’ and ‘benediction.’ There’s nothing legally magical about using those words,” he asserts. “They want to be able to use those words to describe the opening remarks and closing remarks, where students are allowed to pray and [are] certainly free to do so.”

Dallas Morning News: The Lewisville school district has always allowed students to say prayers at high school graduations . . . “I don’t think there’s any legal requirement not to use ‘invocation’ or ‘benediction,’” said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for the Liberty Institute, a Plano-based non-profit legal firm focused on religious issues. “They can have corresponding secular meanings.”

Religion Clause Blog: Becket Fund announced this week that a settlement has been reached in the RLUIPA lawsuit brought by Elijah Group (a church) against the city of Leon Valley, Texas.

Reuters on CNBC: The court order from the 5th U.S. Circuit — which lifts an emergency halt that was put in place earlier this week — is the latest in a series of alternating victories for Planned Parenthood and Texas.

Christian Post: Steve Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, praised the 5th Circuit’s decision on allowing states such as Texas to withhold taxpayer dollars to organizations that provide abortions. “Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortions,” said Aden in a written statement on Tuesday.

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

AP: Less than 24 hours after a federal judge in Austin ordered Texas not to enforce a rule banning clinics associated with abortion providers from receiving state funds, Fifth Circuit Appeals Judge Jerry Smith granted Texas an emergency stay lifting the Austin court’s orde

LifeNews: “It is well-established that the government is entitled to define the limits of a publicly funded program,” Yeakel wrote. “But the government may not condition participation in a government program or receipt of a government benefit upon an applicants exercise of protected rights.”

KHOU.com (includes video): Henderson County has delayed a decision on a request to post an atheist sign on public grounds during the holiday season.

CBS19.tv: Now, the group is wanting to display their own banner this year alongside the Christmas decorations that the County Commissioners have said they will put up.

Huffinton Post: en. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) ripped Governor Rick Perry on Thursday for excluding Planned Parenthood and other programs for women from the Lone Star State’s health care program.

NewsMax: Texas has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to extend funding for the Women’s Health Program through October to give the state time to find money to continue the Medicaid-based program without federal assistance.

LifeNews: Abortion advocates complained the state of Texas would leave women high and dry without access to a women’s health program now that the state has decided to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Christian Newswire: ational Day of Prayer will celebrate its 61st anniversary as people from all walks of life come together to pray for direction and correction that America will be “One Nation Under God.”
Billboards covering the Texas Capitol Area bring the theme for 2012: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

AP: Planned Parenthood sued Texas on Wednesday for excluding the group from participating in a program that provides contraception and check-ups to women. | Complaint: Planned Parenthood v. Suehs (W.D. Tex.)

Fox News: David Bellow, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, told The Daily Caller that he believes there is enough support among committee members to call an emergency SREC meeting to vote on changing the state’s delegate allocation from a proportional to winner-take-all system.

Citizen Link: “All students should have the freedom to express their beliefs,” Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said. “Schools shouldn’t marginalize students who want to do good because of their faith. The school district can avoid needless litigation by simply respecting this third-grader’s constitutionally protected right to hand invitations to his fellow classmates during non-instructional time, as other students have been allowed to do.”

Religion Clause Blog: Instead of allowing three plaintiffs to move ahead with the “as applied” challenge to the 2004 policy, the court permitted only one of the plaintiffs (Jonathan Morgan) to do so. The court held that the other two plaintiffs had failed to give the 60-day advance notice required by TRFRA before filing suit.

Casey Law Office: A Dallas district judge Monday upheld prayers posted on a personal website as protected free speech, not a conspiracy to harm, as an anti-religious activist claimed without any supporting evidence . . . The Alliance Defense Fund assisted with funding for the defense of free speech principles in the case.

Joel Oster appeared on Wallbuilders Live to discuss this. | MP3 audio 9:44 mins

ADF files suit after school district prohibited third-grader’s handwritten Bible club invitations

Alan E. Sears at the ADF Blog: The penalty for opposing the policies of El Paso mayor John Cook are getting stiffer – maybe as stiff as “sign a petition, go to jail.”

LifeSiteNews: A worker in Fort Worth, Texas, walked off the job when he found out he was supposed to pour concrete footings for a new abortion clinic located next door to an adoption center.

My SanAntonio: The mayor has authority to eliminate both the invocation and visitor comments, but he risks litigation if a venue for public input is provided but religious speech is barred. “That’s a violation of the law, both the federal constitution and the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” said Hiram Sasser, a lawyer for the Liberty Institute.

Dallas Voice: The Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund has endorsed 28-year-old rising star Mary Gonzalez, one of four openly LGBT candidates for Texas Legislature in 2012.

Religion Clause Blog: Courthouse News Service reports on a suit filed yesterday in a state trial court in Texas by a former theater and dance faculty member at Lamar University who was graded down in her annual review because she refused, for religious reasons, to attend a student-organized show billed as a celebration of homosexuality.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: Texas Penal Code § 21.15(b)(1) makes it a crime to photograph someone “without the person’s consent” and “with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.” (A separate provision applies to photographing people in bathrooms or private dressing rooms.) InEx parte Nyabwa (Tex. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2011), a Texas appellate court upheld the statute . . . Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to review the case [two judges would have taken the case one judge wrote in dissent] . . .

Religion Clause Blog: The Huffington Post on Monday carried a lengthy and interesting article detailing the legal and strategic decisions on both sides in the widely-publicized battle of a Houston, Texas Orthodox Jewish school to get officials to accommodate its Sabbath observance in a recent statewide basketball tournament.