16 October 2014 A.D. Houston Mayor Annise Parker Backing Off
Subpoenas of Houstunned Pastors
No author. “Houston Mayor Annise Parker has backed down from the
subpoenas the City of Houston issued to several area pastors, Breitbart Texas
has learned.” Breitbart.com. 15 Oct
2014. http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/10/15/BREAKING-Houston-Mayor-Backs-Off-From-Subpoenas-to-Pastors/.
Accessed 15 Oct
2014.
Breitbart Texas
reported earlier about the controversy, stemming from litigation
challenging the city's anti-discrimination ordinance and subpoenas asking the
pastors for the content of their sermons, speeches and communications with
church members. Texas Senator
Ted Cruz weighed in, firmly supporting the pastors in their efforts to fight
the subpoenas, while Mayor Parker
initially remained adamant that the city had the right to request those records.
Despite posting comments on Twitter just hours before that seemed to indicate
she would continue to fight this issue, she told a Houston radio station that
she had changed her mind.
As reported by
KTRH Mayor Parker
admitted that the subpoenas were too broad, and that the pastors' sermons
should not have been included. "It’s not about what did you preach on
last Sunday," she said. "It should have been clarified, it will be
clarified." City Attorney David Feldman had an odd admission of his own:
that he had not reviewed the subpoenas before they were issued. "When I
looked at it I felt it was overly broad, I would not have worded it that way
myself," said Feldman. "It's unfortunate that it has been
construed as some effort to infringe upon religious liberty."
City officials told KTRH that they would narrow the scope of the subpoenas,
but it is not clear how they will address the other
concerns voiced by the pastors regarding their free speech and religious liberty issues
with the rest of the items requested by the subpoena.
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