Texas

A Texas judge blocked the city of Houston from providing benefits to the same-sex spouses of Houston city employees---but it's pending another court hearing next month, LGBTQ Nation reports. The lawsuit was filed by Harris County Republican chair Jared Woodfill. Houston Mayor Annise Parker decided to extend benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees. The plaintiffs claims that Parker violated the Houston city-charter ban on domestic partner benefits, the state Defense of Marriage Act and the Texas Constitution, LGBTQ Nation further reports.

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral argument on whether a blogger who has criticized an Ohio-based company should be unmasked by court order, the Associated Press reported. The blogger's attorney argued that Texas courts don't have personal jurisdiction over the blogger, while the company's attorney argues that Texas does have jurisdiction because its CEO owns a home in Houston and the company has its largest Texas office in Houston. During oral argument, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht questioned if Texas should "be concerned that its courts can be used to investigate any cause of action that could be brought anywhere in the United States. Why should Texas courts just be sort of the State Bureau of Investigation?" according to the AP.

The Associated Press reports on a new lawsuit in Texas federal court challenging that state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. They want a court-ordered injunction against the enforcement of state law. The plaintiffs argue that the ban on same-sex marriage cannot even survive the lowest level of constitutional scrutiny: whether the government has a rational basis for the ban.

A lawsuit in Texas is challenging that state's ban on same-sex marriage, according to Lez Get Real. Along with the many other lawsuits in the country challenging state-level Defense of Marriage Acts or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, the couples in this lawsuit also argue that their equal-protection and due-process rights are being violated by being barred from matrimony.

The national trend of litigation to challenge bans on same-sex marriage is continuing in the Lone Star State. Two couples in Texas have filed a federal lawsuit to challenge that state's ban on same-sex marriage, arguing the ban violates the federal constitution and the Texas state constitution, the San Antonio Express-News reports. “There is no rational basis, much less a compelling government purpose, for Texas to deny plaintiffs the same right to marry enjoyed by the majority of society,” the plaintiffs' complaint said, according to the newspaper.

The family of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed by the state of Texas for allegedly killing his three children by setting his family home on fire, is seeking a post-death pardon for Willingham due to "outdated arson forensics and possible prosecutorial misconduct," the Austin Chronicle reports. In 2009, the New Yorker wrote an extensive and amazing piece on the Willingham case and whether an innocent man was executed. It is well worth a read: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann

In another Innocence Project development out of Alaska, the Alaska Department of Law has asked law enforcement in that state to ask for an independent review of a Fairbanks murder, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The Alaska Innocence Project asked for the exoneration of the four men convicted in that killing. The full report: http://www.newsminer.com/fairbanks_four/state-seeks-independent-review-o...