TED CRUZ GOES ROUNDS WITH KATIE COURIC

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Comment by Μολὼν λάβε on June 30, 2015 at 11:30am

Texas attorney general calls court's gay marriage decision 'a lawle...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended the religious liberty of state employees in a statement Sunday, saying they would not have to issue marriage licenses or perform weddings for same-sex couples and called the Supreme Court’s Friday decision “a lawless ruling.” While critics see this as short-lived political posturing, some conservatives see it as the start of a state's rights movement against the US high court's decision on gay marriages. The court's landmark 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges declared same-sex marriage a constitutional right, but Attorney General Paxton said in a statement that the ruling “stops at the door of the First Amendment” and cannot touch religious freedom. “A ruling by the US Supreme Court is considered the law of the land, but a judge-made edict that is not based in the law or the Constitution diminishes faith in our system of government and the rule of law,” Paxton said. His condemnation of the decision echoes similar remarks by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who said in a statement Friday that no “adverse action” may be taken against state officials acting – or refusing to act – on their religious beliefs. “Texans of all faiths must be absolutely secure in the knowledge that their religious freedom is beyond the reach of government,” Gov. Abbott said. “Renewing and reinforcing that promise is all the more important in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. The government must never pressure a person to abandon or violate his or her sincerely held religious beliefs regarding a topic such as marriage.”

Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU of Texas said in a statement Friday, following the Supreme Court decision and Abbott’s statement as well as initial remarks made by Paxton, “there is little that Ken Paxton or Greg Abbott can do today to quell the joy of so many Texans celebrating their constitutional right to marry.” Ms. Robertson said while the Constitution prevents the curtailment of religious freedom, government officials should still be responsible for carrying out the law. “Religious liberty is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean that government officials can use their personal religious beliefs to avoid following the law regarding marriage,” she said. “Government officials who take an oath to uphold the law are required to treat all Texans equally, regardless of who they are or whom they love.”