TEXAS: Five-Times Married GOP State Rep Files Complaint Against Wrong Judge

From an op-ed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt of Arlington is a soldier, not a lawyer. For proof, look no further than his scrawled complaint against a state district judge. Tinderholt, a retired Army major elected by Tea Party voters, didn’t like the judge letting two women get married after 30 years. Only one couple got married, right after a different judge in a Travis County probate court threw out Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage. Tinderholt wrote out a two-paragraph complaint to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Then his staff called reporters. But Tinderholt’s publicity ploy had problems: First, he complained about the wrong judge and case. Then, he applied the law the wrong way in his complaint. Had he managed to apply the law the right way to the right judge, he still would have come out wrong. Tinderholt, 44 and in his fifth marriage, said in a published statement that he wants a judicial system that “respects the laws” and separation of powers, as if judges shouldn’t declare the Texas Legislature’s laws unconstitutional without prior permission from the Legislature.

It was Probate Judge Guy Herman who ruled the Texas ban to be unconstitutional and state District Judge David Wahlberg who ordered the Travis County Clerk to issue a license. But tell that to Texas Values:

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt has filed a judicial conduct complaint against state District Judge David Wahlberg with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The complaint alleges that Judge Wahlberg violated Texas law by not giving the Texas Attorney General’s office notice that a constitutional provision of Texas marriage law was being challenged in court, a state law requirement under the Texas Government Code, Chapter 402. This illegal maneuver allowed the Judge Wahlberg to rule quickly without the State being present to defend the law, exactly the reason for the state law procedure, to prevent such unethical tactics. Last week, Judge Wahlberg then ordered the Travis County Clerk to issue a marriage license to the lesbian couple, in violation of Texas law, and also waived the normal 72 hour waiting period requirement before a marriage can occur after a license is obtained.

The above-linked op-ed points out that Judge Herman did notify Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton back in January. Paxton declined to get involved in the case. Tinderholt's current wife is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.