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Texas Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 04, 2015 3 Comments
Earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a complaint seeking to block resettlement of six Syrian refugees. Sarah Rumpf reported:
The lawsuit names as defendants various federal entities such as the Department of State, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, as well as International Rescue Committee, Inc., a nonprofit organization involved in refugee resettlement. According to the the complaint, the Refugee Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. § 1522) “establishes a framework for collaboration and cooperation” between the federal government, state and local governments, and volunteer nonprofit organizations, and also requires that the federal government and these private groups “shall consult regularly” and work “in close cooperation and advance consultation” with the states about “the sponsorship process and the intended distribution of refugees among the States and localities before their placement in those States and localities.” The Texas HHSC was told during a phone call with International Rescue Committee that the group intended to resettle two families of Syrian refugees — a total of six people — in Dallas, Texas this week, possibly as early as Thursday, December 3. However, as the complaint alleges, neither this nonprofit group nor the federal government have met their obligations under the Refugee Act of 1980 to consult with Texas about these refugees. Therefore, Texas is demanding that the court order the federal government and International Rescue Committee to comply with the law by consulting with Texas and providing the requested information, and to block the resettlement of these Syrian refugees until that occurs.
Friday, Paxton withdrew the complaint:

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on December 02, 2015 5 Comments
On Wednesday afternoon, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, on behalf of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (Texas HHSC), filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas seeking to block the resettlement of six Syrian refugees in Texas. The lawsuit names as defendants various federal entities such as the Department of State, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, as well as International Rescue Committee, Inc., a nonprofit organization involved in refugee resettlement. According to the the complaint, the Refugee Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. § 1522) "establishes a framework for collaboration and cooperation" between the federal government, state and local governments, and volunteer nonprofit organizations, and also requires that the federal government and these private groups "shall consult regularly" and work "in close cooperation and advance consultation" with the states about "the sponsorship process and the intended distribution of refugees among the States and localities before their placement in those States and localities.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 13, 2015 6 Comments
The Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of a 2013 Texas law (HB 2) that resulted in the closure of half the state's abortion clinics, according to SCOTUS blog. The earliest Whole Women's Health vs. Cole would be heard is February. The issue:
Whether, when applying the “undue burden” standard of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a court errs by refusing to consider whether and to what extent laws that restrict abortion for the stated purpose of promoting health actually serve the government’s interest in promoting health; and (2) whether the Fifth Circuit erred in concluding that this standard permits Texas to enforce, in nearly all circumstances, laws that would cause a significant reduction in the availability of abortion services while failing to advance the State’s interest in promoting health - or any other valid interest.
According to the pro-life advocacy group, Texas Right to Life, "until SCOTUS completes a review of the constitutionality of HB 2, the law’s safety standards are delayed from taking effect in Texas."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 04, 2015 5 Comments
The city of Houston is no longer threatening to seize two decades-old fifth ward churches via eminent domain. From our August report:
Two churches nestled in what used to be one of Houston’s roughest neighborhoods are fighting back against the city. The Latter Day Deliverance Revival Center was established in the fifth ward in 1965 by Bishop Roy Lee Kossie. A few years later, Pastor Quinton Smith began pastoring at the Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, also in the fifth ward. Both churches have grown and have had a positive impact on their community in each year since their establishment. Building a youth ministry center, a church-run food bank, and creating outreach programs for gang members, drug addicts, and alcoholics, the churches continue their work to transform the fifth ward. “When we moved in to this area, it was considered the highest crime rate area in the city of Houston. People shot first and asked questions later. But we loved these people. We loved this community. We knew this was exactly where we needed to be,” said Kossie. The fifth ward is located just outside of downtown. Property values in the area have skyrocketed and continue to climb. The City of Houston offered to purchase the churches. When the churches refused, the city came back with threats of using eminent domain to acquire the property as part of an urban development plan.
That "urban development plan" called for using the land to build a library and 63 units of public housing.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 23, 2015 7 Comments
Monday, Texas cut Medicaid to Planned Parenthood providers. “Texas has stepped forward and shown its unyielding commitment to both protecting life and providing women’s health services,” said Governor Abbott. “The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end. As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the State of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable – the unborn.” Thursday, Texas health officials subpoenaed patient and employee records from five Planned Parenthood clinics across the state.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 21, 2015 20 Comments
This story just keeps getting weirder. Remember Ahmed Mohamed? He's the Texas teen who sailed into his (extended) 15 minutes of fame after one of his teachers mistook a "homemade clock" for a homemade bomb. The Social Justice Warriors rushed to Ahmed's cause, crying racism; President Obama even invited him to the White House. After the incident, Ahmed used the media attention to his advantage, saying that his teacher and the authorities made him "feel like he was a criminal," and that the whole thing seemed contrary to America's live-and-let-live spirit.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 20, 2015 13 Comments
Monday, Texas Governor Abbott's office announced Planned Parenthood providers would no longer be privy to Medicaid dollars. “Texas has stepped forward and shown its unyielding commitment to both protecting life and providing women’s health services,” said Governor Abbott. “The gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood will not be allowed in Texas and the barbaric practice must be brought to an end. As such, ending the Medicaid participation of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the State of Texas is another step in providing greater access to safe healthcare for women while protecting our most vulnerable – the unborn.” Governor Abbott cited the, "gruesome videos filmed at Planned Parenthood facilities," including one facility in Texas. Monday, "the Office of Inspector General at Texas Health and Human Services Commission issued a letter ending Medicaid participation for Planned Parenthood affiliates in the State of Texas based on evidence of Medicaid program violations. The cancellation, consistent with Governor Abbott’s LIFE initiative, calls for funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers out of taxpayer money to be eliminated completely, both at the State and local levels," according to the Governor's office.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 15, 2015 24 Comments
Enunciation saves lives. Ok, maybe not. But it probably prevents needless miscommunications like this one in Kyle, Texas. According to KVUE:
When a Lehman High School student asked for some chewing gum, another person misheard and thought the student said the word "gun," causing a scare on campus. School officials investigated the concern while students were held in their extended class periods. Later, Hays County CISD sent a letter out to parents stating: "The safety of our students is always foremost on our list of priorities, so we take these concerns seriously," the letter read in part. "We continue to encourage students to report anything they see or hear that causes them concern. Fortunately, in this case, it was a misunderstanding and there was no threat to our school or need to conduct a lock down." The investigation had little to no disruption to students' schedules, officials said.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 12, 2015 43 Comments
Longhorn alumna Jessica Jin plans to protest campus carry in a somewhat unconventional way -- by organizing a "Campus (Dildo) Carry" protest at the University's Austin campus. Jin graduated from the University of Texas last year with a degree in violin performance. Campus carry, a law that extends concealed carry privileges to license holders on university campuses, was signed into law by Texas Governor Abbott this year. Using the social media hashtag, #CocksNotGlocks, participants are encouraged to wield dildos to demonstrate the absurdity of campus carry. Yeah, we don't get it either. Organizer Jin wrote on the event's official Facebook page:
The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence. You would receive a citation for taking a DILDO to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class. Heaven forbid the penis. ...Starting on the first day of Long Session classes on August 24, 2016, we are strapping gigantic swinging dildos to our backpacks in protest of campus carry. ANYBODY can participate in solidarity: alum, non-UT students, people outside of Texas. Come one dildo, come all dildos. "You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO." Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play. #CocksNotGlocks

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on October 12, 2015 47 Comments
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there was a right under the Fourteenth Amendment to gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, this meant that the marriage laws in each of the states had to be interpreted without discriminating against same-sex couples. As I wrote here last month, "[f]or gay couples living in a state that allows common-law marriage, especially those states that did not allow gay marriage prior to the Obergefell decision, they may find themselves meeting their state’s definition of a common-law marriage." Now, this has become a reality. A judge in Texas has issued a ruling recognizing a same-sex common-law marriage.  

Key issue: Did the couple hold themselves out to the public as married?

  In most cases where the court is attempting to determine if a common-law marriage exists, the key legal inquiry is whether the couple had held themselves out to the public as married. With many gay couples having wedding celebrations even before their states legally recognized them, and calling each other "husband and husband" or "wife and wife," that certainly seems likely to meet the standard to establish a common-law marriage. That was the reasoning used by Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman earlier this week, finding that two Austin women were in a common-law marriage. As the Austin American-Statesman reported, Stella Powell and Sonemaly Phrasavath began dating in 2006. In 2008, they had a wedding ceremony performed by a Zen Buddhist priest even though Texas did not recognize gay marriage at that time. Powell and Phrasavath also "lived openly as spouses in a Northwest Austin home," according to the Statesman, until Powell passed away from cancer in 2014.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 17, 2015 70 Comments
Yesterday a Texas teenager, who happens to be a Muslim, brought a homemade clock to school and was arrested because the clock was mistaken for a bomb. Some people are blaming racism but zero tolerance policies are the real problem. NBC News reports that he won't be charged:
No Charges For Ahmed Mohamed, Teen Arrested After Bringing Homemade Clock to School Police in Texas said Wednesday that charges will not be filed against a 14-year-old Muslim high school student who was arrested after he brought in a homemade clock that a teacher said looked like a bomb. The arrest drew an outcry on social media. Hundreds of thousands of people used the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed — and President Barack Obama invited the teen to the White House. Ahmed Mohamed, who is Sudanese-American, was arrested on Monday in the Dallas suburb of Irving after he took the clock to his high school. He told The Dallas Morning News that he had been in robotics club in middle school, and he wanted to show his new teacher what he could do.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 11, 2015 45 Comments
During an address to the Eagle Forum in St. Louis this afternoon, former Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign. From ABC News:
“We have a tremendous field – the best in a generation – so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too.” "That is why today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States," he said, adding that he has "no regrets" about his run. He also took what appeared to be a veiled swipe at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. "Demeaning people of Hispanic heritage is not just ignorant, it betrays the example of Christ," he said. In recent weeks, Perry has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the real estate mogul. Perry, who launched his campaign on June 4, has been polling in the low single digits throughout his campaign - most recently at 1 percent in the crucial first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa. He was slated to debate for the second time in the lower-tier debate on CNN next week.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 10, 2015 11 Comments
Hillary. Bernie. O'Malley? Biden! Right now, the Democratic field feels both random and predictable: we have Hillary Clinton, who should be the anointed one; Bernie Sanders, whose numbers defy reason; and Joe Biden, who everyone laughs at but no one counts out. Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and a few others round out the top tier, but don't get near the attention that Clinton or Sanders are able to pull. If Hillary or Bernie get the nod, then, who steps into the VP slot? That person could come from the current field---or he could come from inside agency land, with a little help from his twin brother. Julian Castro and his identical twin brother Joaquin have been the objects of the left's affection since Julian stole the show at the last Democratic Convention, and now they're making their way toward the front lines of the progressives' full court press against the GOP's high-profile presidential bench. In 2014, President Obama appointed former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro to the post of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The appointment was less of a policy move and more of a tucking-away for safekeeping; Julian is being groomed, and many Democratic operatives believe he belongs in the #2 slot on the ticket:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 05, 2015 34 Comments
Joining Lou Dobbs earlier this week, Former Texas Governor Rick Perry was asked to explain his stance on illegal immigration and border security. "I think we need to flesh everyone out from the stand point of of just the rhetoric. When somebody says, "let's build a wall," then I think it's appropriate to say, it's good to have this conversation, it's good that we are having this conversation that now for thirty years, this border has not been secured. We've known it's been a problem," said Perry. Dobbs interjected that he doesn't believe a single candidate talking about immigration issues because, "we've heard it all before."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 04, 2015 2 Comments
Following the senseless murder of Harris County Sheriff Deputy Darren Goforth last Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a statewide call encouraging all Texans to stand with law enforcement officers today. The state-wide show of support will take place beginning at 11:00 AM CST. Governor Abbott's office released the following statement earlier this week:
As Texas continues to mourn the loss of Harris County Sheriff Deputy Darren Goforth, Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statewide call to stand with law enforcement in Texas. To honor Deputy Goforth and all officers across the state, Governor Abbott is asking Texas law enforcement officers turn on their red and blue flashing lights for one-minute at 11:00 a.m. this Friday – the time Deputy Goforth’s funeral is set to begin. “Respect and pride in our law enforcement must be restored in this state and nation,” said Governor Abbott. “It is time to unite in solidarity to support the men and women who serve and protect our communities. I ask that communities across Texas support this cause for unity and remember the essential role that law enforcement plays in keeping Texas safe and strong.” Additionally, law enforcement patrol cars will line the North drive of the Capitol on Friday to join in unity in turning on their red and blue flashing lights.

Posted by Amy Miller on August 03, 2015 24 Comments
Today, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton surrendered at the Collin County Jail to be arrested and booked on three counts of felony securities law violations. Earlier, a grand jury handed down an indictment addressing Paxton's July 2011 efforts to sell stocks on behalf of a McKinney, Texas-based corporation while he was still a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Paxton followed in the footsteps of fellow embattled Texas politicians Tom DeLay and Rick Perry by putting on a confident smirk for his mugshot. According to local media sources, however, Paxton avoided the press after he was booked. (I don't blame him---the Texas Democratic Party organized a rally outside the building demanding he resign on the spot.) The New York Times explains the charges:
The charges — two counts of first-degree securities fraud and one count of third-degree failure to register — are tied to Mr. Paxton’s work soliciting clients and investors for two companies while he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, before he was elected attorney general in November.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 27, 2015 14 Comments
Score one for the good guys---an appeals court in Texas has dropped one of two felony charges currently pending against former governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry. Last August, a grand jury indicted Perry on two separate counts of abuse of power and coercion of a public servant after it was revealed that Perry used his veto power to address corruption in the Travis County District Attorney's office. Perry's political opponents cried intimidation, and managed push forward with the case. Earlier this year, Perry's team suffered a setback when an attempt to get the entire indictment dismissed proved futile; but last week, Perry scored a win on appeal, and overcame count 2---the coercion charge. The court cited the First Amendment right to free speech in their opinion, saying that “[t]he statute on which the ‘coercion of a public servant’ is based, as written, and as we are bound to construe it, violates the First Amendment and, accordingly, cannot be enforced.” More via Politico:
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