Posted on 01/09/2015 4:29:28 AM PST by HomerBohn
Houston's Lesbian Mayor Annise Parker is at it again after standing down on subpoenaing pastor's sermons. We had not heard from her for a few months after she got blasted by pastors and the public following the City Council's attempts to push through an unlawful "bathroom bill" and the city attorney's attempts to manipulate signatures in a petition against their illegal actions. However, that has changed. Now she is claiming that the pastors have no right to a jury trial and is calling for a "special master" to investigate.
Though the city withdrew its subpoenas of the pastor's sermons, something that the pastors called a "head fake," it has now begun to submit several motions to the court. Among those motions is a request that the state district court not allow the pastors a jury decision and leave the final say in the hands of a single judge.
Bob Unruh reports:
The city claims that since the pastors want an "election," it is, therefore, an "election dispute," and the state does not grant the right to a jury trial for election disputes.
The plaintiffs pointed out they submitted a timely demand for a jury trial and paid the fee, and therefore are entitled to a jury decision under the Texas Constitution.
"An election contest is a contest of an election which has already taken place. No election has occurred in this case. Calling plaintiffs' lawsuit an 'election contest' does not make it an election contest," they argued. "An election contest has a very precise and narrow definition in the Texas Election Code, and, as one might anticipate, requires that an actual election has transpired."
They continued: "If the plaintiffs prevail on their claims, then not only is the mayor's so-called Equal Rights Ordinance temporarily suspended, but the Houston City Council will be required to immediately convene and reconsider whether to repeal the ERO in its entirety. Council's failure to do so then triggers a duty on behalf of the city to order an election and allow the registered voters of Houston [to] vote on whether the ERO should be repealed or not."
The city also told the court it wanted a ruling that a special master would be appointed to hear evidence, keeping it out of the hands of a jury or a judge.
"Given the complex and technical nature of the issues presented in this lawsuit, and the difficulty of applying the various legal requirements to plaintiffs deficient but voluminous referendum petition, defendants ask this court to appoint a special master."
A hearing has now been scheduled to review the city's motions. However, that isn't stopping pastors from speaking out.
One of the pastors who was targeted by the mayor and city council, Steve Riggle, has issued the following statement to city council members.
I have just been informed that the legal team representing the city of Houston in the legal action regarding the referendum on Mayor Parker's ERO is asking the judge to deny the citizens of Houston the right to a jury trial. In addition to taking away the constitutional voting rights of over 1 million people in Houston, the mayor is now attempting to take away our constitutional right to a jury trial. You are implicated in her decision since you officially represent the city of Houston.
I respectfully request a direct answer from you as to your position on this … DO YOU SUPPORT THE MAYOR IN HER ATTEMPT TO TAKE AWAY THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO A JURY TRIAL? YES OR NO … I am asking you to make a public statement regarding your position at the council meeting tomorrow.
As a citizen of Houston for over 30 years and a community leader, I feel our city has suffered enough national embarrassment over this issue when what we have asked for all along is to simply let the people decide. It seems as if the city didn't learn anything from the national outrage over the subpoenas issued to pastors in our community by Mayor Parker and City Attorney David Feldman. What will happen when our city and the nation finds out that now the mayor will not allow this trial on her actions to subvert the right of the people to vote to be decided by a jury? There comes a time when all of you who serve on this elected council need to stand up and let your voice be heard that you will no longer allow this mayor to subvert the right of the people in pursuing her personal agenda. THAT TIME IS NOW!
If you recall, a firestorm of national proportions broke out following the news of what the City was doing against the pastors. The fact that this degenerate, lesbian mayor calls the bathroom bill "personal," indicates that she is not mentally fit for office and needs to be removed from office and dealt with lawfully.
Pastors from across the country gathered at Grace Community Church in Houston for I Stand Sunday shortly after the mayor's attack on the pastors and Dr. Ed Young warned Parker, "Don't mess with the pulpits of America."
People from across the nation and around the world sent Bibles and sermons to Mayor Parker's office to show solidarity with the pastors against the unlawful actions of the city.
Though the city claimed the signatures of the petition were never validated, the city secretary, Anna Russell, said in a deposition that she validated all the signatures necessary for the issue to be placed on the ballot in November so the people could vote on it. Russell, who has served Houston for more than 40 years, had only examined about one-third of the signatures submitted because the minimum had already been reached. However, the city attorney told her he had invalidated most of the signatures and Russell revised her report to add his statement.
Russell said, "As of July 27, 2014, the number of qualified city of Houston voters, who signed the petition, had been verified with a margin of error."
Alliance Defending Freedom has been representing the pastors in the case and will continue to do so. ADF attorney Andy Taylor said of the city and that mayor that they "ought to be ashamed of themselves."
"Our clients have a constitutional right of free speech, of freedom of religion, freedom to petition government for redress," he said. "It's absolutely unbelievable that the mayor in her zeal to defend a 'gay-lesbian' ordinance would trample the voting rights of over a million people in Houston."
And citizens have the right to a trial by a jury of their peers as the Sixth Amendment guarantees.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
The motion by the city and the mayor should be dead on arrival
Since violence on the streets didn't work they now promote government handouts and cater to an illiterate voting public to place them in key elective offices.
If the honest people of Houston would recall her maybe folks in places like NYC would follow suit with guys like de Blasio.
I’m trying to figure out how it was possible for someone such as her to be elected in Houston, Texas of all places.....
Just... wow
I’m speechless.
I know this is what they believe in and want, but I don’t expect them to actually say it.
This illustrates the mental capacity of Houston voters!
Fascism and an insatiable lusts for power never dies, it just takes on different forms. Always with the same goals, only the messaging and path to them changes.
I’m in Houston and very sad to say that they are far too many idiots here. We have a substantial population of gays and low information voters. Remember Sheila Jackson-Lee was elected from here.
She swore up and down that the “gay agenda” would not be pushed but now that she is in her final term as mayor (term limits here) she is pushing it like crazy.
Didn’t this ‘Mayor Anus Porker’ (odd handle for a lesbo. I guess with strap ons?) have to pledge to obey the constitution of the U.S. as part of her oath?
Promises and oaths mean nothing to self-serving, power hungry people like this one.
Chances are its a result of white liberals. Even the Detroit city govt has refused to sign on with any special homosexual rights agenda.
The Leftists around the world have become incredibly bold over the last 20 years, and they are not ashamed to spout their true beliefs anymore. 50 years ago, this sort of thinking would get you hanged from a tree.
Liberals, like Islamists, cannot provide objective, rational, fact-based arguments for their positions. As such, they must resort to intimidation and violence to advance their views.
It is no coincidence that this woman is a sexual deviant AND that the law is so plastic to her. NONE at all.
Isn’t Houston where New Orleans Blacks went after Katrina? Blacks are the biggest haters of homosexuals but would vote for Jefferson Davis if he came back and ran as a Democrat.
For this corrupted lesbo beech the only heaven she will ever experience is here on the topside of the earth. She will inherit her christian free zone below in due season. She will get a little earthly karma as a down payment guaranty just up ahead.
Three words... Sheila Jackson Lee. Houston is a food riot away from becoming Haiti.
Amen.
She and her ilk are a virulent anti-American plague of vitrolic religion haters.......vacant, surly, Me-First humanoids who worship at The Church of Whatever Works For Me.
Paraphrasing author Saul Alinsky----proponent of spreading evil, anti-religious satanism......"they do not have a fixed truth -- truth to them is relative and changing..... they are free from the shackles of dogma."
America has witnessed the tragic consequences of a generation inculcated with moral relativity and situation ethics. The ghost of Saul Alinsky lurks behind Progressivism---in M/M Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of their ilk.
They clearly see themselves as "deconstructionists"----savagely committed to tearing down America's traditions. Every maniacal official govt act is dedicated to chipping away at the bulwark of American freedoms.
Cadres of self-absorbed punks are squatting in govt. They are clearly disturbed and dysfunctional---obsessed with religious cleansing and kicking religionists to the curb.
Their motto: "Everything For Us--Nothing For You."
That same generation inculcated with moral relativity and situation ethics has segued into The Entitlement Generation---better known as "Pay Me--I'm a Victim.
The Obamas, The Clintons, the De Blasios, and this savage are ruthless predators w/ no empathy for others and no remorse. They are anti-social psychopaths who recognize no moral boundaries--aggressively going after what they want, irregardless of the consequences to others.
She must be removed, not to mention the fact that she was unfit for office in the first place.
Sounds like the Valerie Jarrett Theory Of Political Retribution...
I’m trying to figure out how it was possible for someone such as her to be elected in Houston, Texas of all places.....
Liberals flee the mess they create in places like CA. They move to a state that isn’t screwed up yet and vote for people who will screw it up.
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