A state judge in Texas ruled that opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) did not gather enough signatures to force a repeal referendum.
After separate rulings from both a jury and state District Judge Robert Schaffer, attorneys for both sides entered dueling counts of the valid signatures, adding and subtracting voters as Schaffer responded to motions. By early this week, the counts were closer together than ever before, fewer than 1,000 signatures apart.
Ultimately, Schaffer on Friday ruled the final count of valid signatures was 16,684, leaving opponents short of the threshold required in the city charter of 17,249 signatures, or 10 percent of the ballots cast in the last mayoral election.
(As) a matter of fact and as a matter of law the Referendum Petition is not valid or enforceable in all respects.
--Judge Robert Schaffer
The jury's verdict and the judge's ruling are a powerful smack-down against the forces of discrimination and intolerance. And maybe, just maybe, they'll reconsider their misguided ways.
--Geoffrey Harrison, lead attorney for the city
With this ruling, HERO takes effect in Houston.
I would hope that the plaintiffs would not appeal, they lost during a jury trial and today they also lost with the judge's ruling. Now all Houstonians have access to the same protections.
--Mayor Anise Parker
No such luck.
But opponents, largely conservative activists and pastors whose objections center on the protections the law extends to gay and transgender residents, say they will appeal the decision.
Because wanna discriminate. Hafta discriminate. Bible! Bible!
Andy Taylor, attorney for the plaintiffs, said he remains confident they will ultimately take the law to voters. He was particularly upset with rulings that some illegible signatures were disqualified.
We intend to appeal and are confident the higher courts will agree that good handwriting is not a valid reason to deny citizens of their constitutional rights to vote.
--Taylor
This is a great victory in the courts, and a great day for civil rights in Houston, Texas. The jury found for the City, and now the judge has found in favor of the City too. I am gratified that the judge signed a final judgment rejecting the plaintiffs’ claims and confirming that their pro-discrimination referendum petition failed. We will be prepared if the plaintiffs decide to appeal.
--Houston City Attorney Donna Edmundson
Mayor Annise Parker and her former city attorney rejected the petition last August, triggering the lawsuit. At issue in the case was not the ordinance itself, but whether opponents' petition contained enough valid signatures. City officials said the 5,200-page document was riddled with forgery and errors, while opponents said the city sought and falsely found problems with the petition.
Conservative push-back to the city ordinance became a national movement, starting with Fox News and several anti-LGBT groups. And opposition to the law grew into a religious liberty battle, after the city issued subpoenas to five local pastors as part of the litigation requesting documents on their anti-HERO advocacy. The goal of the subpoenas was to find out what claims and instructions the pastors had given on the petition. But opponents seized on the subpoenas to declare an attack on religious freedom, and soon former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) took up the cause, calling on his Fox News viewers to bombard Mayor Parker’s office with Bibles and copies of sermons, as Parker’s address was displayed on screen. As Media Matters reported, hundreds of supporters obliged. Others who publicly railed against the subpoenas included Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R).
Nicole Flatlow, Think Progress