Attorney General Greg Abbott, who’s made much of his role in defending state laws, was asked if he’d have fought for the old Texas law banning interracial marriages.
Abbott seemed to lean towards the answer, “yes.”
The interracial marriage laws already have been kicked to the curb, constitutionally speaking, the governor candidate pointed out to the San Antonio Express News.
“And all I can do is deal with the issues that are before me,” Abbott said. “The job of an attorney general is to represent and defend in court the laws of their client, which is the state Legislature, unless and until a court strikes it down.”
Abbott currently is defending the state’s $5.4 billion cuts in education funding, arguing the Legislature did not, faced with a budget shortfall, abandon its constitutional obligation to adequately fund education.
He is defending the state ban on same-sex marriages, saying the Legislature and later the voters said marriage is between one man and one woman.
Abbott said his job is not to impose his belief system in place of what the Legislature has decreed.
There is a history among attorney generals taking moral stands that might have proved unpopular.
John Cornyn as AG dropped an appeal of a death penalty case and sought a new punishment hearing. He determined he could not defend that particular death sentence in light of an expert witness who had testified that blacks are more inclined to violence. The defendant was black. And he was roundly criticized by some for conceding the case.
And Jim Mattox as attorney general refused to defend a state law that criminalized homosexual conduct. He also was derided for abandoning his role.
Then there’s Dan Morales, who refused to defend the University of Texas law school for using affirmative action in its admission policy.
Abbott’s answer raises the question of whether state attorney generals are obligated to defend stances they believe are morally wrong – such as banning interracial marriage. Or whether being an elected official could mean representing a moral leadership ahead of its time.