Tag: Florida

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Florida: Broward County judge rules in favor of marriage equality

For the third time in three weeks, a Florida judge has ruled in favor of marriage equality, this time in Broward County.

From Freedom To Marry:

The ruling in today’s case, from Broward County Circuit Judge Dale Cohen, is the third marriage ruling in three weeks, following a July 17 ruling in Monroe County’s Huntsman v. Heavilin and July 25’s ruling in Miami-Dade County’s Pareto v. Ruvin.

In all 3 cases, judges ruled that banning same-sex couples from marrying is unconstitutional. All three rulings are stayed, and the two previous rulings have been appealed by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

For now, today’s decision only applies to Broward County. The next step for the Miami-Dade and Monroe County decisions is review by Florida’s 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week, the plaintiffs in both cases moved to consolidate their cases and filed a motion seeking review directly by the Florida Supreme Court.

More than 30 court rulings have come down in favor of same-sex marriage since the June 2013 ruling by SCOTUS striking down the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act.

Reading just a bit from Judge Cohen’s ruling:

“The Court is well aware of the emotionally charged environment behind this important issue. However, politics and emotionality cannot rule, it is the laws of our government that create the free society that we enjoy. The judicial role is to rule by applying the law to the facts with neutrality and impartiality.”

“This Court believes that the issue here is not whether there is a right to same-sex marriage but instead whether there is a right to marriage from which same-sex couples can be excluded. The State of Florida cannot ignore the status and dignity afforded to opposite-sex couples, who were married out-of-state, and not extend those same rights, dignities and benefits to same-sex couples similarly situated.”

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Florida: Tow truck operator arrested for targeting Gay Days attendees

A tow truck operator has been busted on multiple counts of grand theft for towing the vehicles of Gay Days attendees in Orlando.

Jason P. Combs, 44, owner of ASAP Towing, faces 29 counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle and other charges.

Deputies allege he towed more than 100 vehicles June 5 to 9 from a parking lot at Westwood Town Center off International Drive, which is across the street from the event’s host hotel, Doubletree by Hilton.

Combs didn’t have an up-to-date contract to tow vehicles or have proper signage notifying motorists the lot was a tow-away zone, deputies said.

According to reports, Combs would hire “spotters” to look for people who left the parking lot headed to the Center, so their vehicles so they could be towed. These “spotters” would give him a signal and within minutes the vehicles would be towed.

Another problem in Mr. Combs business plan seems to be the cars were towed further than 10 miles away – this violates Florida state law.  What a surprise.

What an asshole.

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Florida’s same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional – AGAIN – by second state court

Judge Sarah Zabel of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court has struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, making for the second ruling against the law within the span of two weeks.

From the ruling:

The flood of cases that have come out since Windsor amply demonstrates this truth as not one court has found a same-sex marriage ban to be constitutional. As case after case has come out, unified in their well-reasoned constitutional condemnation of the deprivation of one class of person’s right to marry, the answer to the question of whether it is constitutionally permissible to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry has become increasingly obvious: Of course it is not.

Preventing couples from marrying solely on the basis of their sexual orientation serves no governmental interest. It serves only to hurt, to discriminate, to deprive same-sex couples and their families of equal dignity, to label and treat them as second-class citizens, and to deem them unworthy of participation in one of the fundamental institutions of our society.

The journey of our Nation towards becoming “a more perfect Union” does not stop at any particular generation; it is instead a fluid process through every generation.

The Court, therefore, foresees a day when the term “same-sex marriage” is viewed in the same absurd vein as “separate but equal” and is thus forsaken and supplanted by ordinary “marriage.”

[snip]

Florida’s same-sex marriage bans violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution, and they also offend basic human dignity.
The Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment is therefore GRANTED.

The ruling is stayed “pending the outcome of expected appeals.”

Read the decision here.

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Florida Judge denies request to lift stay in marriage equality ruling

Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia has denied a request to lift a stay in his ruling that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, raccording to CBS Miami.

Plaintiffs Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones filed the request.

Judge Garcia ruled last week that the 2008 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment’s “equal protections” clause.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately filed a notice of appeal, which triggered an automatic stay in the ruling.

In his decision to not life the stay, Garcia wrote: “Based on decisions of the United States Supreme Court and other courts to stay proceedings in similar challenges, this court DENIES the Emergency Motion. The automatic stay, currently in place, shall remain in place until completion of appellate proceedings or until further order of the Court.”

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott gives ANOTHER perplexing answer to the press

This week Florida Circuit Judge Luis Garcia ruled the state’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, which should have meant gay couples could begin marrying in the Florida Keys as early as next week.

However, Attorney General Pam Bondi has already filed an appeal which triggered an immediate stay of the ruling for now.

FOX4 News asked Gov. Rick Scott about his thoughts on the ruling and same-sex marriage in the state.

The answer, in true Rick Scott form, is hard to decipher.

How this guy got elected, I’ll never know. He can’t give a straight answer; clearly he’s in election mode where he’s afraid of pissing off ANYBODY.

But the surest way to lose an election is play both sides of the fence, Rick.

And by the way, don’t his eyes look strangely dilated?…

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Florida hate group leaders says denying equal rights to gays “worth dying for”

Anti-gay rights activist John Stemberger

John Stemberger, the man who led the 2008 campaign to outlaw same-sex marriage in Florida, is outraged over recent court decisions moving the state towards marriage equality:

“This is an issue worth dying for,” said Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council in Orlando. “Every domestic partnership, every single civil union, every couple that cohabitates, these arrangements dilute and devalue marriage.”

Stemberger said he wasn’t “daunted” by Garcia’s ruling, nor was he surprised.

“The court was very hostile to our position,” he said. “This is a very sad day for Floridians. This is an entirely illegitimate process. The judge had no legal authority in this decision.”

I think it’s quite clear that Judge Luis Garcia, who ruled on the Monroe County same-sex marriage lawsuit, HAS legal authority in the case.

Sore loser, Mr. Stemberger. Sore loser.

Or, maybe, just “loser.”

In the video below, Stemberger shares his views on the ruling in Key West, plus tells viewers that “you can’t have a civil society without natural marriage” – which, of course, we still do have.  No one has taken away heterosexual marriage.  And closes by assuring viewers that he and his fellow haters plan on “fighting harder, stronger and faster” to keep gays and lesbians from having the freedom to marry.

What a guy…

(via Miami Herald)

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Florida Judge rules state ban on same-sex marriage

A judge in the Florida Keys has ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

The ruling was issued Thursday by Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia and applies only to Monroe County, which covers the Keys.

The lawsuit contended that the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2008 violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The judge says licenses could be issued starting Tuesday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and ban supporters argued that the referendum vote should be respected and that Florida has sole authority to define marriage in the state. The Florida amendment defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

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Marriage equality foes getting nervous in Florida

Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver, who yesterday testified in the Monroe County marriage lawsuit, is quoted in this press release complaining that the state of Florida isn’t doing enough to “defend” marriage and that Liberty Counsel is doing all the heavy lifting:

“Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is giving only window dressing to the Florida Marriage Amendment.

“Bondi sent one of her staff attorneys to argue the case against the constitutional amendment, and her office filed a short, 14-page brief only a week before the court date.

“If Attorney General Pam Bondi does not want to present a vigorous defense, she owes it to the voters of Florida to step down and allow someone else to represent the interests of the State.

“I call on Governor Rick Scott to get off the sidelines and appoint an independent counsel who can adequately represent the people of Florida.”

Can somebody please call the waahmbulance?

Here’s a news report of the hearing that took place in Florida yesterday…

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Florida: Charlie Crist endorsed by HRC for governor

Former governor of Florida – currently running to regain that office – has been endorsed by the HRC.

Crist has promised to bring marriage equality to the state.

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Florida Attorney General says same-sex marriage would “impose significant public harm”

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the state of Florida filed on behalf of eight same-sex couples seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriages.

With an argument NO state has yet to find successful in court, AG Bondi writes in court documents that recognizing the marriages would “impose significant public harm.”

From ABC News:

Bondi’s office also argues that the state has a legitimate interest in defining marriage as between a man and woman. Florida first banned same-sex marriages nearly two decades ago and voters reinforced that ban when they passed a constitutional amendment in 2008.

“Florida’s marriage laws, then, have a close, direct, and rational relationship to society’s legitimate interest in increasing the likelihood that children will be born to and raised by the mothers and fathers who produced them in stable and enduring family units,” Bondi’s office said in court documents.

The state’s legal position also notes that there would be significant financial and logistical problems for the state’s pension and health insurance programs if same-sex marriages were recognized.