Despite efforts by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Texas state appellate court has granted a San Antonio woman’s request to divorce her spouse.
The couple in the center of this case is Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly. They were married in Massachusetts in 2004, and were granted a divorce by Texas last February. The Texas Attorney General intervened, saying that the divorce can’t be granted because of Texas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The logic of the argument was that without a valid marriage, a valid divorce is impossible.
However, the court denied the motion on a technical ground: the Attorney General waited too long to launch an appeal, and therefore lost standing. In a decision signed by the three judges of the appeals court, Justice Diane Henson wrote that the state did not file a motion to stop the divorce until the day after the verdict was issued, and that while there are no rules that sets a deadline for intervention, the general rule is that a party cannot intervene after a judgment is handed down, unless it is set aside.
With that said, legal analysts are viewing the ruling as merely technical. The decision itself did not address the issue of same-sex marriage in Texas.
In response, the Attorney General’s office expressed its regret, saying that the decision “undermines unambiguous Texas Law”. Gay rights group while pleased with the ruling, also cautioned others against reading more into what is considered as a procedural victory.]]>
