LEGAL ANNOUNCEMENTS I
HOUSTON
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THE FIGHT CONTINUES... Woodfill v. Parker Update: Onward to the Court of Appeals/Texas Supreme Court
A
s you may recall, our coalition of activists and pastors collected over 54,000 signatures in an effort to have Mayor Parker's UnEqual Rights Ordinance voted on by the people. The City of Houston Charter requires only 17,269 petition signatures for a referendum vote on the ordinance. Longtime city secretary, Anna Russell, (who is responsible for determining whether we collected the requisite 17,269 signatures) testified she stopped counting signatures at about 19,000 because the minimum had been met. Russell further testified that the city charter "provides that the city secretary determine the number of qualified voters who sign the petition." In her testimony, she was asked: "And based on that understanding, you did that; and the result of your work was that 17,846 signatures had been validated. And that was more than the minimum number necessary, correct?" "That's correct," she replied. But Mayor Parker and her city attorney, David Feldman, then stepped in and disqualified most of the signatures that had been collected. We then filed suit in Harris County, Texas, Woodfill v. Parker. The case drew statewide and national attention last year when Mayor Parker used the subpoena power of government to try and silence five pastors who were part of the referendum process. She demanded copies of their sermons and other communications regarding, among other things, Mayor Parker, homosexuality, and transgender related issues. After a national uproar, Mayor Parker dropped the subpoenas. Rush Limbaugh described the subpoenas as "one of the most vile, filthy, blatant violations of the Constitution that I have seen." We then had a three week trial which clearly uncovered the Mayor's inappropriate and unlawful conduct. Through the three week trial, the city's own numbers of how many valid signatures we had submitted changed almost daily. During the trial Pastors were harassed by Mayor Parker's counsel for standing up against the Mayor's personal agenda. Activists were accused of unlawful conduct for daring to petition their government. In fact, at one point the City went after me and my family in an effort to push Mayor Parker's radical social agenda on the City of Houston. Unfortunately, Judge Robert Schaffer (D-Houston) ruled on Friday, April 17th that our coalition of pastors and activists had collected 16,684 valid signatures, just short of the 17,269 needed to force a public vote on the ordinance. We will appeal Judge Schaffer's decision. This process has made it very clear that Mayor Parker and her liberal allies are willing to do whatever it takes to keep this important issue off the ballot. Clearly, Mayor Parker does not trust the voters. Fortunately, the Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court traditionally are "strong" on voting rights. Be encouraged knowing this is just one battle in a larger war we will win. We will not surrender, quit or compromise when it comes to religious liberty, voting rights, and the constitutional freedoms we the people enjoy. Please continue to pray as this case moves to the appellate courts.
Jared Woodfill Jared Woodfill
20 n HOUSTON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER - www.aubreyrtaylor.blogspot.com