Remember when Dallas Judge Tena Callahan struck down the Texas gay marriage ban earlier this month?
Unfortunately, because she gave an oral decision, no written decision was available to see what motivated the judge to rule the way she did.
But last week the judge spoke at a democratic organizitaiton dinner and explained her reasoning. John Wright of the Dallas Voice reported what she said:
“I was sitting at my dining room table and I was thinking, I’ve got to make this decision, I’ve got to rip this Band-Aid off and I’ve got to make this decision,” Callahan said, adding that she wasn’t struggling with the constitutional principle behind the ruling, but with the backlash she was sure to face.
“My dad always used to tell me that a billion people can believe in a bad idea, and it’s still a bad idea. And that man taught me to have the courage of my convictions and to do what’s right
— it’s always the right time to do the right thing. And as I’m sitting there and all this is going through my head, I’m looking at the back of this bag, and I went, ‘Oh my God, I just got my answer.’
“‘Let us have faith that right makes might,’” Callahan said, reading from the back of the bag, “and in that faith, let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it. — Abraham Lincoln.”
“I do my duty,” Callahan said. “That’s what you elected me to do.”
As Callahan concluded her brief remarks, fellow members of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas gave her a standing ovation, just as they had when she took the microphone.
The judge said that she wasn’t allowed to talk about the specifics of the case. Still, she stressed that the purpose of the constitution is to protect minorities: "It’s not there to protect the majority. In a democracy, majority rules. Who needs the silly constitution when you’re ruling?"
While Judge Callahan’s comments about the constitution may appeal to some, her ruling will still almost certainly be reversed on appeal.
Thanks to Michelle O’Neil, a Dallas family law attorney, for the tip.
[Photo credit: JOHN WRIGHT/Dallas Voice]
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Perhaps the new Texas will continue to have brave and educated people in positions of power in the State.
We are so used to dumb-assed “good ole boys” running the state – I doubt that most ever even read the constitution of the United States, much less the Constitution of the State of Texas.
To me, this woman represents One for the educated! Yea!
Unfortunately this does not represent a “new Texas.” Don’t be surprised when this gets overturned in the state appellate courts.