Paying the Piper
Hood County, Texas, is situated on the banks of the Brazos River upstream from me so I hope all the foolhardy ignorance filters out before it gets down here.
Their county clerk was one of the clerks in Texas who followed the advice of indicted first degree felon and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton and refused to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples.
Her office got sued and, of damn course, lost in court. Hood County Clerk Katie Lang’s refusal to follow the law cost the taxpayers of Hood County $44,000.
And that was lucky. The half million dollar lawsuit was settled out of court for attorney fees.
I have a real problem with the taxpayers having to pay this. The clerk herself should pay it or The Liberty Institute, which has bucketloads of money, who advised her to refused to follow the law. Or Ken Paxton. Hell, all his money is going to lawyers anyway.
Thanks to everybody for the heads up.
Paxton should pay this, too.
1Any official that refuses to follow the law should lose their job.
2Same thing whether they spew pollution from their mouths or from their mines and factories and feedlots– they get the benefit (if any, in this case) and taxpayers pay the costs.
3If Katie was dumb enough to rely on Paxton’s opinion and to defy the law, she should be willing to pay the piper–and count herself lucky if she isn’t fired.
4We have a long history and process for conscientious objectors. You don’t get to be one just by not liking what your job requires. Why don’t folks who want to claim this status have to jump through the same hoops? Is it because they have the right to quit (unlike a draftee?) Let them keep _a_ job, but not the one that they don’t want to perform.
If the government, thought license or position, has made you a gatekeeper, by gum you shouldn’t be able to make up your own rules for who goes through.
5Maybe everyone who voted for County Clerk Katie Lang could pitch in a few bucks extra. Think of it as an Idiot Tax.
6How Fiscally Conservative can they go?
7The tax payers also have to foot the bill whenever the GOP tries to repeal the AFA again, investigate Benghazi again, shut down the government, or pay the penalties for cops shooting unarmed people.
The should just call it a Conservatives Behaving Badly Tax and make only Republicans pay it.
8Katie girl, that was stupid! Don’t do that ever again! Cuz if you ever do, it will be on your nickle!
9Micr my good friend, I propose two new mandated insurances for the Tea Bagger crowd: mouth and gun insurance. Far be it for me to infringe on their 1st and 2A rights, I’m simply suggesting they pay for their own blow-back.
Fire at will idiots, but be prepared to suffer the consequences and at a minimum pay for your play.
10@PKM
I like it.
11Elected boards can normally refuse to indemnify elected officials they oversee against legal consequences of willfully refusing to follow the law. I’ve seen an elected executive wilt and shut up when the government body’s corporate counsel promised to advise the elected council not to indemnify him against the consequences of some dodgy actions. Counsel had to explain that “refuse to indemnify against” meant lifting the normal official immunity and that he’d have to pay any consequences out of his own pocket, but it worked. In this case, though, it appears that following the advice of the state AG would be a positive defense, even if the latter is under indictment. Still, it would probably only take one county board member asking the county attorney in a meeting about lifting official immunity to get these fools to issue the licenses. And then whine that they’re being persecuted for their beliefs.
12Cheryl, “we the people” taxpayers have recourse. Vote and vote, plus follow the examples set by Mrs. B and Mr. Maxey.
Vote the varmints out at the state/national level and sue the hide off their gerrymandering carcasses at the local level for violating our Civil Rights.
We could also demand a ‘three strikes’ law for Congress critters. When three investigations prove nothing and produce nothing, the varmints pay us back via their personal and pension funds.
13She didn’t deny the marriage licenses due to her beliefs as a county clerk, she denied them due to her closely held religious beliefs. I’ll bet the parishioners at her church were right proud of her good Christian stance, and should be more than happy to back her up when it comes to paying the judgement on her lawsuit. Might require a bake sale or three…
14If she starts refusing to issue remarriage licenses to divorced people (which Jesus said is adultery), I’ll believe her objection is sincerely religious. Otherwise it’s just bigotry.
15Rhea — exactly so. If I’m not mistaken, adultery is one of the biggies covered by the Ten Commandments. I happen to know for a fact that the Washington State florist who refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding (her “religious” beliefs would not allow her to “participate” in such a wedding) and later lost in court is the same florist who provided flowers to a married father for his long-time mistress. Many, many times. She provided flowers to the man’s wife — often on the same occasions — but apparently didn’t find anything odd about that and would doubtless be shocked to find that she had apparently “participated” in adultery. The hypocrisy just never ends.
16Katie Lang. How ironic.
17Ummmm, yeah. Why is it that all these bozos pull these stunts. They sign up to be “public servants.” They take an oath to uphold the Constitution and everything. Then, the first chance they get, they forswear their oaths. And get sued. And WE pay the fines or damages or whatever.
Let a few of THEM pay their own damned fines and legal fees and damages. That would put an end to their silliness in a hurry. So, of course, it will never happen.
18In a former life, I worked for a major oil company. All workers were informed that if there was a major pollution event and if one of us were to be sued, that the company would not pay anything for our defense. That made everyone a lot more aware of the consequences of our actions.
Maybe this should happen to the County Clerk.
Or, she should just quit her job.
19I think “having her pay for her choice” is a great idea….and it should be a law. Now, how do we make that happen?
20This all boils down once again to the so called Leaders–ie-Ken Paxton who by now should resign as gatekeeper of the law–himself a confessed lawbreaker and facing felony charges–violating his oath of office on top of it by telling the clerks it is okay to break the law based on religious beliefs. This is because of our Robotic voters who press the R button just because–The taxpayer is paying for Katie and all these so called religious freedom nuts–Has any one asked what job are the taxpayers of Hood County paying Katie to do? It is all so shameful. Hopefully, next time they have the chance the citizens will figure it out and go to manual mode when at the voting booth. One can only hope.
21@ Scott Kair (post 12): very interesting but this would mean that there would have to be a board member smart enough and ‘inclined’ to ask that question.
Wouldn’t it be great if a concerned citizen raised this question at a county supervisors meeting.
22the county should sue her.
23Rhea: It does not matter whether her claim of a religious belief is true or not…what matters is that she refused to carry out her duties as county clerk. She could have refused to carry them out for any reason and been just as wrong. “I don’t like his face.” “She said mean things to my child in the grocery store.” “He stole my parking place at Jimmy’s Beer Hut.” “She let her dog poop on my front lawn.”
As a public servant (which she no doubt claims to be) it’s her duty to serve every citizen in the county. Like it or not. Or quit. She should quit. She should also sue Paxton for giving her bad advice. In fact, all the counties whose clerks followed his advice should sue him. But not on the taxpayers’ dimes.
24You get what you vote for. No matter where you live, make sure you’re registered and vote in EVERY primary and general, every blessed year. Help your friends to register and vote, too. They might need a loan/gift or to borrow your internet connection to get a document; they might need rides to the polls. VOTE.
25Thank you for the geography lesson. I hadn’t realized the Brazos ran through Hood County.
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