Texas Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Divorce
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the state in the matter of granting a divorce to a same-sex couple.
Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly were married in Massachusetts in 2004, but moved to Travis County where they filed for divorce in 2010. A district court granted a "valid and subsisting divorce", but the state filed an appeal against the ruling the next day, citing the constitutionality of Texas laws and arguing that recognizing a same-sex divorce would force the state to acknowledge and recognize same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against the state, with Justice Jeffrey Brown saying the state lacked standing to intervene in the divorce proceedings as they were not a party of record and did not protest in time. Justice Brown wrote,
The record reveals that the State, while fully aware of the public import of this private dispute, had adequate opportunity to intervene and simply failed to diligently assert its rights. This is not a case in which the State was unaware of the litigation or blindsided by the result.
Governor Greg Abbott was Attorney General at the time the state petitioned against the divorce and spoke out today against the Supreme Court's decision,
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing and legally incorrect. The Court mistakenly relied on a technicality to allow this divorce to proceed.
via Time