Wiliamson County Candidate Won’t Settle ‘Religious Test’ Lawsuit
During his 29 years in law enforcement, Robert Lloyd says, he has always tried to respect people’s rights. But when Lloyd interviewed for an appointment to be Williamson County’s Precinct 3 constable in March 2013, he claims that his own rights were violated.
After 15 minutes of routine questions, county commissioners asked about Lloyd’s views on abortion and same-sex marriage. They wanted to know what church he attended, and whether his voting record was Democratic or Republican.
“When I get into a situation where I feel someone has violated my rights, it would be against my nature and what I’ve stood for for 29 years as a cop to let that go,” Lloyd says. “That would be like me seeing a crime and not stepping in and doing something for it.”
Lloyd says his answers weren’t sufficiently conservative, and he didn’t get the position. Instead, it went to Kevin Stofle, whose brother-in-law, Hal Hawes, is the attorney for the Commissioners Court and sat in on the interviews, according to Lloyd’s lawsuit. (Williamson County denies that Hawes attended the interviews.)
Read more: http://www.texasobserver.org/religious-test-wilco-lloyd/