Tag: Florida

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Florida appeals federal judge’s ruling which struck down marriage equality ban

The state of Florida has announced it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that found the state’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional:

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office filed the notice Thursday on behalf of Surgeon General Dr. John H. Armstrong, Secretary of Management Services Craig J. Nichols and Washington County Clerk of Court Harold Bazzell.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle in Tallahassee ruled on Aug. 21 that the ban violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and due process. Hinkle issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, pending possible appeals.

Equality Florida issued this statement:

Make no mistake, the responsibility for today’s appeal belongs to Gov. Scott. This appeal would not be moving forward without his full support. The Governor’s continued strategy of trying to hide behind the attorney general and even his own employees is a shameful display of election year cowardice. The responsibility is his and so is the remedy.

Gov. Scott can still use the power of his office and call for an end to the these costly and hopeless appeals and allow Florida’s ban on marriage equality to end this month. If Gov. Scott insists continuing his crusade to keep people who love each other from marrying, he should stop mumbling and hiding and take full responsibility for the continued suffering the ban inflicts every day it remains in place.

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Florida: Charlie Crist asks Gov. Rick Scott to drop appeals against same-sex marriage

Democratic candidate for governor Charlie Crist wrote an open op-ed letter to GOP Gov. Rick Scott on Friday asking him to drop any appeals to the recent court rulings that found Florida’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.

Via the Miami Herald:

“Dear Governor Scott: Four years ago, a district court of appeals ruled Florida’s ban on gay and lesbian adoption unconstitutional. When the ruling came down, I believed it was my job as Governor to exercise the authority vested in me by the people and our Constitution. The day the judge ruled, I declared Florida’s adoption ban over. Gay and lesbian parents began adopting the children they loved immediately. It is one of my proudest moments as an elected official.

“Last Thursday Federal District Judge Robert Hinkle gave you the same chance to speak out for what is right when, in a ruling that would apply statewide, he struck down Florida’s ban on same sex marriage. By declaring the marriage ban finished you could discourage any future appeals and end the nightmare that loving same sex couples all across our state endure every single day, ending court battles that could drag on for months or years.

[snip]

“You have the power to end the suffering of people like Arlene Goldberg. Last March, Arlene lost her wife and partner of 47 years, Carol Goldwasser. At a moment of enormous and understandable grief, Arlene had to suffer the humiliation of not being listed as Carol’s wife on the death certificate. Even worse, she lost her home because she was denied the social security benefits they had earned.

“When faced with a very similar decision four years ago I did what I believed was best for Florida and best for the thousands of children waiting to be adopted by loving parents. Today, I urge you to do what’s best for Floridians and declare the state will not be challenging Judge Hinkle’s Order or any other orders supporting the rights of all Floridians to marry.” – Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who supported his state’s ban on same-sex marriage while in office.”

It should be noted that when Crist previously served as the governor of Florida (as a Republican), he supported the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

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Florida District Court of Appeal asks state Supreme Court to take up same-sex marriage issue

Ignoring the request of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to hold on all things “same-sex marriage” until SCOTUS has it’s eventual say, the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal has asked the state Supreme Court to rule on a Hillsborough County divorce case involving a same-sex couple seeking a divorce.

From Equality Florida:

“Today, the 2nd District Court of Appeal (DCA) in Tampa, Florida has requested that the Florida Supreme Court take up the issue of marriage equality right away,” said Stratton Pollitzer, Deputy Director of Equality Florida.

“This is what we’ve been asking for all along. We’re thrilled that the 2nd DCA agrees that marriage equality is an issue of such urgency and importance that it should be elevated directly to the Florida Supreme Court. We hope that the 3rd DCA in Miami will follow suit and request that the marriage cases pending before them also be moved directly to the Florida Supreme Court. We need a final resolution, not another appeal, because every day this discriminatory ban remains in place causes significant and irreparable harm to our families.”

After four rulings in favor of marriage equality in Florida, AG Bondi stated that she prefers to “hold” on any appeals in those cases until the US Supreme Court addresses the issue… someday.

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Federal judge rules Florida's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Although four state judges had previously ruled in the same fashion, today a federal judge struck down Florida’s same-sex marriage ban.

From the Florida ACLU:

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle held that by denying the plaintiffs fundamental right to marry, Florida’s marriage ban violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

He also held that the state’s rationale for denying recognition of the marriages not only had no rational basis, but would fail even a higher level of scrutiny, stating that “[t]he undeniable truth is that the Florida ban on same-sex marriage stems entirely, or almost entirely, from moral disapproval of the practice,” and that “moral disapproval alone cannot sustain” a ban restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Hinkle’s decision is stayed pending Supreme Court action.

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Broward County Commissioners look to block funds for defending same-sex marriage ban

In Florida, Broward County Commissioners have not only unanimously passed a resolution in support of same-sex marriage, they are now looking for legal ways to block sending any funds to the Tallahassee that could be used to fight marriage equality:

Along with approving the resolution decision unanimously, county commissioners are also asking the county attorney to research ways to withhold funding to Tallahassee that is used in the appeals process. The county commissioners do not want to waste taxpayer money fighting gay marriage. Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter said, “We want to show that opposition not just by submitting a resolution, but by withholding our donor county dollars that are quite frankly right now going to Tallahassee to fund this appeal process with which we are adamantly opposed.”

After appealing the recent rulings by South Florida judges, commissioners fear that Bondi will shelf the issue until the United States Supreme Court rules again. “The United States Supreme Court, they’re going to be the body who make this decision, and then we will have uniformity throughout the country,” said Bondi.

However, some commissioners are not sure that waiting for a decision by the Supreme Court would result in simplicity. “The problem with that is there is no guarantee that the United States Supreme Court is ever going to undertake this matter,” said Kiar.

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Florida pastor stands firm on denying gay man’s funeral

Florida pastor T.W. Jenkins feels “fine” about his decision to cancel gay man’s funeral

Reverend T.W. Jenkins, pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, is standing firm on his decision to cancel the funeral services of Julion Evans once he found out the man was gay.

Rev. Jenkins, in the midst of the media firestorm, wanted to let his congregation know “My family is doing fine,” he said to claps from the audience. “Church family please remain focused and prayerful … and we will continue to stand on the word of God.”

Good to know the Rev. Jenkins is “doing fine.”

The family of Julion Evans eventually used the funeral home that handled Evans’ wake for the funeral.

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Florida Baptist Church cancels funeral after learning the deceased was gay

Last week, 42 year old Julion Evans was given six months to live. Two days later he was dead.

When his family arranged to have his funeral at the church he had grown up at, New Hope Missionary Baptist in Tampa, the church agreed to host the service. But when members of the congregation found out through an obituary that Evans was gay and married, the church abruptly cancelled the service.

WFLA reports:

Julie Atwood was standing at her son’s casket when the phone rang. The church where her son’s funeral was scheduled to be held the next day decided to abruptly cancel the service, after the pastor learned the deceased was gay and his obituary listed a surviving “husband.”

Atwood said she was told it would be “blasphemous” to hold the services at the church because her son, Julion Evans, 42, was gay.

“It was devastating,” she said. “I did feel like he was being denied the dignity of death.”

Evans’ husband, Kendall Capers, says the pair were partners for 17 years and married last year in Maryland. Evans died at home after a 4-year battle with a rare illness called Amyloidosis, which destroys organs in the body.

Capers said that because of the abrupt cancellation, some mourners were not notified of the late relocation and missed the funeral.

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Florida: Attorney General Pam Bondi asks state appeals courts to hold on same-sex marriage indefinitely

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is ducking her responsibilities by asking state appeals courts to put marriage equality appeals on hold indefinitely until the US Supreme Court rules on the issue.

“Neither this Court nor the Florida Supreme Court can decide this federal issue with finality,” Bondi wrote in a filing late Thursday to the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal. “The United States Supreme Court, however, ‘has the final word on the United States Constitution.’”

Bondi told the appeals court she expects the U.S. Supreme Court will act soon on the gay marriage issue. She cited filings this week from the states of Utah and Oklahoma asking their gay-marriage cases be heard by the nation’s highest court.

“A ruling from the United States Supreme Court would end the constitutional debate, end this appeal, and end all related cases,” Bondi wrote. “The State of Florida will respect the United States Supreme Court’s final word. In the meantime, this Court should preserve taxpayer and judicial resources by staying briefing until the United States Supreme Court rules.”

While Utah and Oklahoma may ask SCOTUS to rule on their appeals, there is no guarantee that SCOTUS will take the cases. And even if SCOTUS does, rulings may not come for a year.

AG Bondi is content to let gay and lesbian couples in Florida wait – possibly years – for justice.

Wow – that’s leadership?

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Charlie Crist: Florida officials do not have to defend anti-gay marriage ban

From the Miami Herald:

Charlie Crist, Florida’s former governor and attorney general, says current Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi don’t have to defend the state’s 2008 gay marriage ban in court.

Crist, who is running to become governor again (this time as a Democrat), spoke Thursday as he accepted LGBT-rights group SAVE’s endorsement at City Hall the Restaurant in Miami.

“It’s unfortunate that Rick Scott and Pam Bondi feel this way about gay marriage and are not embracing or tolerant of it. It’s embarrassing, frankly,” Crist said. “The rest of America is moving forward and they’re still on the wrong side of history on this issue. But we can fix it and they call it an election. Only 89 days away, so help is on the way.

“What would I do differently as governor? Everything. To this issue, specifically, he shouldn’t be fighting it through the attorney general’s office. They should cease and desist on fighting gay marriage — same-sex marriage — and equality. The time has passed to do that.”

(h/t JMG)

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Florida gets fourth ruling against banning same-sex marriage

Today, a Palm Beach County Circuit judge ruled in a probate case that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

From the Palm Beach Post:

Circuit Judge Diana Lewis’ opinion was tied to a probate case surrounding the death of Frank Bangor, a man who owned property in Florida and married W. Jason Simpson in Delaware, where gay marriage is legal.

[snip]

Under Florida law, a spouse is recognized as a personal representative of an estate provided the out-of-state marriage is recognized as valid under state law. Simpson, through attorney Andrew Fein, petitioned Lewis to be recognized as Bangor’s personal representative despite a ban on gay marriage in Florida.

This is the fourth ruling in favor of marriage equality in Florida in less than a month.

Just yesterday a Broward County judge ruled against the ban in a divorce proceeding.

Florida State Attorney General Pam Bondi should seriously get a clue.  The future is here.