Houston needs to drop subpoenas of pastors’ sermons

Published 7:49 pm Sunday, October 19, 2014

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The city of Houston has gone too far. City Hall has subpoenaed the sermons and communications of several pastors, and that’s unacceptable.

An attorney for the city issued a subpoena to pastors who oppose the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance — a statute that goes as far as mandating that transgender persons be provided with access to the bathroom of their choice, regardless of biology.

“The City of Houston wants sermons from pastors engaged in the legal battle over the controversial equal rights ordinance,” Houston’s KTRK reported. “In a subpoena to five members of the Houston Area Pastors Council, the city is requesting a long list of documents and communications. Among them are ‘all speeches, presentations, or sermons’ related to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) and ‘all communications with members of your congregation’ regarding it and the failed petition against it. It is the city’s latest move as it defends itself against a lawsuit filed in August requesting the ordinance be suspended.”

On Friday, in a news conference, the city said it would “back off” the request for sermons, it would not withdraw the subpoenas.

The lawsuit is over signatures gathered in a petition drive to force a referendum on the ordinance. Though there seemed to be thousands more signatures than required to meet the threshold for calling a vote, City Attorney David Feldman decided otherwise.

So the pastors — mostly African American and Hispanic — sued.

They were shocked, however, to receive those subpoenas.

“For a city government to step into churches and ask pastors to turn in sermons, it’s gone too far,” Pastor Hernan Castano said. “This is not what America, the nation is about.”

City Hall responded to reports about the subpoenas first by claiming ignorance — it was an outside contract attorney who actually filed them — but the Mayor Annise Parker undermined that claim with a later tweet: “If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game. Were instructions given on filling out anti-HERO petition?”

That’s the real position taken by the city, and the ordinances supporters — that pastors who delve into politics don’t deserve the protections of the First Amendment.

“It’s relevant to know what representations and instructions were given regarding these petitions,” contends Feldman, the city attorney.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group, has stepped in to represent the pastors.

But so have liberal groups.

The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy is president of the Interfaith Alliance, and a supporter of the ordinance and gay rights. But even he criticized the subpoenas.

“I will work as hard to defend the freedom of speech from the pulpit for those with whom I disagree, as I will to defend the rights of the LGBT community. As long as a sermon is not inciting violence, the government has no business getting involved in the content of ministers’ sermons,” Gaddy told the Huffington Post.

The Alliance makes it clear why this is important.

“These requests, if allowed, will have a chilling effect on future citizens who might consider circulating referendum petitions because they are dissatisfied with ordinances passed by the City Council,” the group’s brief says.

The city of Houston should drop the subpoenas completely.