County DA in Texas pens amazing letter on clerks' issuing SSM marriage licenses.

[Ilsa]

https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2015/jul/07/das-letter-about-gay-marriage-widely-distributed/

Snip

It (the letter) answered burning questions Easley and others across the state had about the implications of the ruling and how to proceed, questions they felt hadn't been answered by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Snip

Tyler pointed out that refusing to perform job duties would open county clerks up to a lawsuit, and Paxton had not promised to foot their legal bills.

Rushing posted Tyler's letter on a county clerk listserv, and it has been widely distributed since. It deciphers the legalese and cuts out the politics, elected officials said.

Snip

Good article. The letter is two pages and lays it out for clerks and precinct commissioners and j.p.s. Tyler really took apart Tx Atty Gen Paxton's idiotic comments on the SCOTUS ruling. The letter is in pdf form on the page at the above link.

[arcane1]

1. There were two great paragraphs in there but I can't copy them

And I'm too lazy to type it up

[Ilsa]

5. Tyler is a Republican, but he cares more about the law

versus Paxton's political career. I believe he's had to handle some ugly cases involving local officials in the past.

[arcane1]

6. One of the Bush lawyers for the 2000 election argued in favor of marriage in California

Ted Olson. It was a surprise, but it was nice to see some objectivity in unexpected places.

[Gothmog]

2. This is a great letter

[yellowcanine]

3. Important to point out that AG Paxton's grandstanding will not protect the clerks.

He has noting to lose with his stance, the county clerks have everything to lose. He should be publicly smacked down for the weasel that he is.

[Ilsa]

4. The closing of Tyler's letter was a wonderfully scary metaphor:

He (Paxton) is not the lifeguard at this pool, and (3)The water is deep and dark, so all swimmers WILL swim at their own risk.

Paxton is throwing the clerks to the wolves with his bad legal advice based on politics.

I wish the letter wasn't a pdf.

[petronius]

7. It's a bit clunky in terms of line breaks and highlighting, but think you can cut and paste

if you press the 'fullscreen' button then switch to 'text' view for the page you want to copy from. E.g.:

While the State of Texas and Victoria County make reasonable accommodations for the
religious beliefs of all persons, the public cannot be required to accommodate the religious
beliefs of a government office holder if those beliefs preclude the office holder from fulfilling
their oath to faithfully execute the legal duties of their office. Please recall, the duty in question
is the issuance of a government document in accordance with government law.

Individual religious freedom is a fundamental right set forth in both the U.S. and Texas
constitutions, and last week the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples now have a
fundamental right to civil marriage. However, neither the U.S. nor Texas Constitutions regard a
County Clerk holding office nor a Deputy Clerk continued employment as a fundamental right. If and when core beliefs conflict with the duties of office one has sworn to uphold, a dilemma
emerges and a choice must be made. In the military there exists an honored tradition, whereby
instead of refusing an order perceived immoral or imprudent, an officer makes his dissent known
and resigns his commission. I empathize with your dilemma and will respect your decision.

Not that it really matters though; the letter deserves to be read in its entirety...

[Ilsa]

8. I thought it was marvelous that he told them that

Their jobs would not be protected as a "fundamental right". He suggested they do their jobs or resign.

Thanks for the copy and paste. I don't have my desktop PC available, so I'm not certain I can do the functions from my phone.