Two taxpayers, including Christian pastor Jack Pidgeon, next turned to the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, which initially rejected their appeal in September, with only one member, Justice John Devine, dissenting.
A campaign by social and religious conservatives produced a barrage of emails asking the eight other justices to reconsider or risk a backlash in the next GOP primary. Leading Republicans including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton joined the call, and in January the court issued a rarely granted motion to rehear the case and set oral arguments for March 1.
Fridays ruling by the states highest civil court returns the case to a Harris County district court to determine if the U.S. Supreme Courts marriage ruling applies to spousal benefits provided by the city of Houston.
We decline to instruct the trial court how to construe Obergefell on remand, said the opinion, written by Justice Jeff Boyd.
