Top Texas court OKs same-sex divorce, says state AG lacked standing
Siding with a trial court judge and against the state attorney general, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the divorce of a same-sex couple who married in Massachusetts.
However, the 5-3 decision (PDF) by the state’s top court focused on civil procedure rather than constitutional law.
The supreme court court held that then-attorney general Greg Abbott, who is now governor of Texas, erred by failing to seek to intervene until after the divorce was granted. Hence, the state lacked standing to object to the trial court’s decision, explains the Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog.
Abbott had argued that the trial court lacked the power to approve the same-sex divorce of Sabina Daly and Angelique Naylor, because the Texas constitution mandates that marriage must be between a man and a woman.
He called the supreme court’s decision “disappointing and legally incorrect,” in a written statement provided to Reuters. “The court mistakenly relied on a technicality to allow this divorce to proceed,” he wrote.
A concurring opinion (PDF) notes that the state is not bound by the same-sex divorce.
Three judges said in a dissenting opinion (PDF) that Abbott should have been allowed to intervene. In another dissent (PDF), one judge says he would have overturned the divorce on constitutional grounds.
In a separate Friday decision, the supreme court dismissed an unrelated same-sex divorce case because one of the two men has died. This left in place a state appellate court ruling that overturned their divorce.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Federal judge in Texas strikes state’s ban on same-sex marriage”
Austin American-Statesman: “Judge: No gay marriage in Texas, for now”
