County Clerk Refuses to Follow Law – Offers No Explanation

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Off the Kuff report that Irion County Clerk Molly Criner is refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.  Her only explanation appears to be “I can’t do that.”

Criner, clad in a hot magenta knee-length skirt, white long-sleeve shirt and brown hair flowing loosely around her shoulders, extended her hand as she walked in and asked for the women’s names.

“We just need a marriage license,” one of the women repeated.

“Ok,” Criner sighed, “well, I can’t do that. But the clerk’s office in San Angelo is only 25 miles [away] and they’d be happy to issue one. I just can’t.”

For minutes the dialogue continued, the women questioning Criner as to why she was refusing and whether she had the paperwork and authorization. She responded that she does have the paperwork and is authorized, but repeated that she “just can’t do it.”

Referencing her staff, all of whom she said have issued marriage licenses to heterosexual couples in the past, Criner explained that no same-sex certificates would be coming out of her office. “I have not delegated my authority to them to do it, so they don’t have a choice,” Criner said. “You know, we all believe very strongly in what we believe, and I admire you for that. I really highly recommend 25 miles down the road, where you can get a license in Tom Green County.”

What Ms. Kriner can’t do is perform one of the essential functions of her office which is following the law that she took an oath to uphold.  What Kriner can do is resign if she cannot perform the job she was elected to do.

Today in Texas History – July 15

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From the Annals of the Indian Wars –   In 1839, the main battle of the Cherokee War was fought a few miles west of Tyler.  The Battle of the Neches was the culmination of a genocidal campaign that began when President Mirabeau B. Lamar announced that the time had come for an “exterminating war” on Texas Indians. Lamar and his administration refused to recognize earlier treaties with the Cherokees in East Texas.  To foment war, Lamar accused Cherokees and their the Kickapoos, Delawares and Shawnee of planning to join Mexico in an insurrection.  Texan troops under the command of General Thomas Rusk were sent to remove the Indians from their recognized lands. Under pressure, Chief Duwali (aka Chief Bowl or Bowles) led an evacuation of their main town.  But that did not satisfy the Texans who attacked the Indians at dusk on July 15. The first day’s battle proved indecisive, but on July 16, Texas troops led by Rusk and Edward Burleson routed the Cherokees and their allies near the headwaters of the Neches River in Van Zandt County. Chief Duwali was on horseback but was dismounted and wounded.  He continued the fight on foot but was hit again. As he sat wounded on the battlefield a Texan soldier executed him with a shot to the head. Reports were that 100 Indians were killed in the attack.  Texans claimed only 5 dead and 28 wounded.  The survivors fled to the Indian Territory. This was the end of any major Indian presence in East Texas.

Drawing of Chief Duwali from http://texas-history-page.blogspot.com/2015_03_01_archive.html

Quote for the Day

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“Ken Paxton is an ethics dumpster fire that might be spreading.  Governor Abbott and state regulators failed to take action to enforce the law, and Texans deserve to know why.  Governor Abbott should stop hiding from the Paxton scandal hoping it will go away.”  

Lone Star Project Director Matt Angle.

Not sure what an “ethics dumpster fire” is but it sure sounds bad.

Profiles in Courage – However Misguided

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Rusk County Clerk Joyce Lewis-Kugle resigned her office rather than have to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage by issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.  Lewis-Kugle who was first elected in 2006 explained her reasons in her resignation letter to County Judge Joel Hale.

“Before taking office, I was required to take an oath to uphold the laws of this State and the United States. Due to the recent decision by the Supreme Court, the laws I swore to have now changed.”

I disagree with her views, but Lewis-Kugle did the honorable thing by resigning her office rather than complaining or engaging in grandstanding like some other Texas county clerks.

Of course, Red is also willing to bet that Lewis-Kugle will attempt to leverage her resignation into a run for another office as she will undoubtably be viewed as a Tea Party martyr.

Birthright Citizenship Under Fire in Texas

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The Texas Observer reports that undocumented parents are increasingly unable to obtain birth certificates for their children born in the U.S.

For nearly 150 years, the United States, under the 14th Amendment, has recognized people born here as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens.

But Texas has other plans. In the last year, the state has refused to issue birth certificates to children who were born in Texas to undocumented parents. In May, four women filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services alleging constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.

Jennifer Harbury, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, who is representing the women, said the deluge of birth certificate refusals began last winter. “I’ve never seen such a large number of women with this problem,” she says. “In the past someone might be turned away, but it was always resolved. This is something altogether new.”

Today in Texas History – July 14

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From the Annals of the Aviation Pioneers – In 1938, Howard Hughes and a four-man crew landed their specially equipped Lockheed 14 in New York City, having circled the globe in three days, nineteen hours, and seventeen minutes. Hughes, a Houston native, was wealthy from the age of 18 as he inherited a fortune when orphaned.  He first sought fame in Hollywood in the 1920s producing and then directing movies such as Hell’s Angels (1930) and Scarface (1932).  Hughes had been fascinated with flying since his youth and used part of his incredible fortune to form the Hughes Aircraft Company in the 1930s as a division of Hughes Tool Company.  Hughes was a talented and daring pilot and set two speed records. In the 1940s, Hughes Aircraft landed several contracts to produce military aircraft, but with mixed results, as in the case of the famous HK-1 flying boat (the “Spruce Goose”).

The End TImes are Near, Cont.

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The new baseball lawsuit (see entry immediately below) seeking to have the net extended from foul pole to foul pole in all MLB parks got Red to wondering about deaths from foul balls.  And of course with the miracle of the internets and some people having way too much time on their hands, the answer to Red’s question was only moments away.

Sports Nut (Joe Mooallem) at Slate offers a review of a 2008 book,  Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game Related Fatalities of Players, Other Personnel and Spectators in Amateur and Professional Baseball, 1862-2007 by Robert Gorman and David Weeks.  One can only wonder at the motivation for creating this apparently exhaustive study which is certain to not make the NY Times Bestseller list. According to Slate, “The authors say their aim was to “raise awareness” about baseball’s many dangers, but there aren’t any recommendations for making the sport safer here, no real signs of impassioned outrage, and no warnings to suburban parents about aluminum bats.”   Red isn’t exactly running out to get a copy, but the review does offer this interesting fact.

Fatal fastballs to the head, meanwhile, aren’t nearly as common as you’d expect. In the past 150 years, only one fan at a major league baseball game has been killed by a foul ball—a 14-year-old in Los Angeles named Alan Fish. The liner that fractured Fish’s skull came off the bat of Dodger pinch-hitting specialist Manny Mota, whose own teenage nephew would be killed 14 years later while playing shortstop in New York—a coincidence Gorman and Weeks don’t stop to note. Mota’s nephew, a high-schooler, was struck by lightning as he stood in the field, five minutes after the umpire announced he was going to call the game at the end of the inning.

Of course, others have been injured and some seriously by flying bats and balls, but the risk of actual death from sitting along the baselines appears to be pretty small.   But if your number is up, just hope you are sitting next to this guy.

The End Times are Near, Cont.

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Yahoo Sports relates that Gail Payne, an Oakland A’s season ticket holder, has filed a lawsuit seeking to have MLB clubs install foul pole to foul pole netting to protect fans from foul balls, broken bats and the occasional errantly expelled chaw spit.   A Houston law firm, Hilliard Munoz Gonzalez is representing Payne, but a website asks other season ticket-holders to contact another firm handling the case, Seattle-based Hagens Berman.

”Every type of fan is constantly at risk of serious injury or death,” claims attorney Robert Hilliard. ”If that foul ball is hit hard enough, reaction time is basically zero and life-threatening injury is certain. This is a needless risk. Extending the nets will, as a fact, save lives.”

If you want to sit in good seats, you must be willing to pay attention to the game.  If you can’t do that, sit in the outfield or the nosebleeds.

Red Takes a Stand

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Red happened to be in the Capital City this weekend and took his family to eat at Red’s of all places.  When offered a seat on the patio, the hostess neglected to inform Red that it was the designated “Dog Area.”   Red knows that his general dislike of the canine species puts him at odds with much of the civilized world on either a domesticated animal or culinary basis.  And if people want to eat with their dogs – or eat their dogs for that matter – Red is perfectly okay with that.  But a restaurant should not assume that Red is okay having his spinach salad while a Black Lab is sticking his ass in the air and farting in Red’s general direction.  Red gets that people love their dogs, but that doesn’t mean I have to.  All I want is informed choice.  If you are going to seat someone in a mixed-species kennel at least give them chance to opt out and wait for a table where the only annoying creatures are the wait staff.

Today in Texas History – July 13

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From the Annals of Unclaimed Prizes – In 1903, the Texas legislature chose to offer a $50,000 prize for discovery of a way to rid Texas of the boll weevil. The proclamation was made from the steps of the Capitol in Austin.  A Boll Weevil Commission was appointed by Gov. S.W.T. Lanham to evaluate the claims and claimants to the prize.  The prize offered by the legislature made both themselves and the boll weevil a figure of fun for newspapers throughout the nation, and this episode is sometimes found in civics or government texts as an illustration of the foolishness of lawmaking bodies.  No one ever came forth to make a claim for the prize – an enormous sum in its day.