He accomplished this by folding like a lawn chair on the issue of same-sex death and birth certificates.
Wednesday’s contempt of court hearing for Attorney General Ken Paxton and a state health official was canceled Monday after state officials agreed to allow death certificates to acknowledge same-sex marriages, a lawyer involved in the case said.
The state also agreed to issue new guidelines allowing same-sex couples to be listed as parents on a child’s birth certificate, said Neel Lane, the lawyer for a Conroe man who sued Texas to be listed as the husband on his male spouse’s death certificate.
The Trib fills in some details.
Best mugshot ever
The move came hours after Paxton asked U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to quash an order requiring him and a top state health official to attend a contempt of court hearing on Wednesday. That hearing stemmed from a ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordering state officials to recognize the same-sex marriage of a Conroe resident by naming him as the surviving spouse on his late husband’s death certificate.
Garcia also ruled that Paxton and Kirk Cole, interim commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, should appear in court in San Antonio to determine whether they should be held in contempt for refusing to amend the death certificate.
In his ruling, Garcia said the state had violated a July decision that prohibited state officials from enforcing Texas’ now-defunct ban on same-sex marriages. That order was issued shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must recognize same-sex marriages.
A spokeswoman for the AG’s office confirmed the hearing had been canceled “while DSHS finalizes guidelines for the issuance of death certificates.”
A hearing is now scheduled for Sept. 10 to allow the state to finalize its revised policies.
And more from the Express-News:
During a telephone conference, lawyers for the state agreed to have a policy on death certificates ready by Thursday and one in place for birth certificates within two to three days, said Neel Lane, one of the San Antonio lawyers handling the litigation against the state.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia told Lane to confer with the state to review the policies and procedures to ensure that they do not discriminate against married same-sex couples. If Lane feels they are not adequate, he should inform Garcia, the judge ordered.
“DSHS is finalizing a policy related to the issuance of certain vital records within the next two days,” a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services said via e-mail. “We will work as quickly as possible to implement that policy. It will require communication with local registrars and facilities, changes to our processes and programming updates to the electronic vital records system.”
Lane’s client, John Allen Stone-Hoskins, who sued to force the state to list him as the surviving spouse on his husband’s death certificate, praised Garcia’s ruling and said Lane will help so the state “can no longer do this to any same-sex couple in birth or death.”
[…]
Behind the scenes, several sources told the San Antonio Express-News that federal marshals had been preparing to house Paxton and the head of DSHS — if found in contempt — in a jail other than the one downtown run by The Geo Group of Florida.
Excellent. Shame it took the threat of being held in contempt of court to make it happen, but at least it did happen. Kudos to Judge Garcia for making it expressly clear that he intended to tolerate no BS. Getting birth certificates included is a big deal as well. Paxton has a big mouth when it comes to these so-called “social issues”, but he has an equally big sense of self-preservation. He wasn’t going to the slammer. Congrats to the plaintiffs and attorneys that forced Paxton to cry “Uncle”.
UPDATE: Brian Chasnoff has more.
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