- Quickdraw McLaw
- 5 Comments
- 352 Views
On what is sure to be seen as a historic day at the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court has ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional where states have authorized same-sex marriage. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy wrote that DOMA violates the 5th amendment by seeking to displace protections afforded to those in same-sex marriages by the states. “This opinion and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages.” You can view the Windsor opinion and dissents here.
With regard to Proposition 8, the Court ruled that the parties making the federal appeal of the state court’s decision finding Prop 8 unconstitutional did not have standing. As you will recall, after the state court ruled, the attorney general and governor declined to appeal the ruling, so certain individuals took up the cause after the California Supreme Court said they had standing to do so. The US Supreme Court found they did not have standing and remanded the case back to the 9th Circuit with instructions to dismiss the appeal. For the time being, it looks like California cannot enforce Proposition 8. You can read the Hollingsworth v. Perry opinion and dissent here.
What do you think? Did they make the right call? Not go far enough? Do any of you legal scholars have any valuable insights?
typical. They punted on a chance to clarify a messy issue with Prop 8. Also, the DOMA thing now opens a whole host of questions about people who were married in a state that allows gay marriage and now live in a state that doesn't. Full faith and credit?
Typical. They followed the law on standing and properly did not wade into matters where they did not have parties with standing to stand before them.
11:04 wins.
I predict a zombie apocalypse by the end of 2014. The end is nigh. How will humanity survive such a mortal blow? The next thing you know, little boy scouts will want to sleep with other boy scouts.
What's the big deal? If the homosexuals want to mate for life, who's the government to try and stand in the way?