Houston mayor criticizes city lawyers' subpoenas of sermons

From Jacob Gershman (Wall Street Journal Law Blog):

Janice Evans, a city spokeswoman, told Law Blog in a statement:

Mayor Parker agrees with those who are concerned about the city legal department's subpoenas for pastor's sermons. The subpoenas were issued by pro bono attorneys helping the city prepare for the trial regarding the petition to repeal the new Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) in January. Neither the mayor nor City Attorney David Feldman were aware the subpoenas had been issued until yesterday. Both agree the original documents were overly broad. The city will move to narrow the scope during an upcoming court hearing. Feldman says the focus should be only on communications related to the HERO petition process.

Houston City Attorney David Feldman suggested to the Houston Chronicle in a story published Tuesday that the documents demanded by the city could shed light on the extent to which signature gatherers opposing the ordinance were aware of the rules governing the referendum process.