Tag: SCOTUS

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SCOTUS Rules On Marriage Equality

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the 14th Amendment DOES require states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples!!!!!!

The ruling effectively overturns gay marriage bans in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.

I can imagine June 26th will be the unofficial Gay Rights Day from here on considering the decision today, the 2013 decision on the same date that struck down DOMA and the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling that struck down sodomy laws.

From the ruling today:

“It is now clear that the challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and it must be further acknowledged that they abridge central precepts of equality . . . Especially against a long history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial to same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and continuing harm. The imposition of this disability on gays and lesbians serves to disrespect and subordinate them. And the Equal Protection Clause, like the Due Process Clause, prohibits this unjustified infringement of the fundamental right to marry.”

(drops mic…)

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Obamacare Wins At SCOTUS

The Supreme Court has upheld the Obamacare subsidies for more than 6 million Americans with a 6-3 vote in the King v. Burwell decision, handed down moments ago.

This means that individuals who get their health insurance through an exchange established by the federal government will be eligible for tax subsidies.

Six voting for Obamacare are Chief Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

Of course, Scalia dissents.

Not only is this good news for the millions who rely on those subsidies to be able to afford health care insurance, but good news for the Republican Party, who, while demonizing the law all the way to court, would have faced the reality of being responsible for those millions losing their coverage, without having any plan in place to fix the law.

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SCOTUS Adds Friday To Rulings Schedule

SCOTUSblog, my expert source for all things U.S. Supreme Court theorizes that the Obamacare ruling could happen Friday, and same-sex marriage decision could come down on Monday.

June 26th is the 12th anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas (overturning all sodomy laws), and the 2nd anniversary of Windsor v. US (requiring federal recognition of same-sex marriages).

Coincidence?

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No Same-Sex Marriage Ruling From SCOTUS Today

The court has added this coming Thursday to the calendar for releasing decisions.

Possibly the two biggest rulings of this term, same-sex marriage and Obamacare, have yet to be released.

This could well go to Monday, June 29th. SCOTUS loves to draw out the drama on big rulings.

10AM as usual.

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Frank Bruni: Nothing About Marriage Equality Feels “Quick”

As the time draws near that the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down it’s ruling on same-sex marriage (very possibly this week), Frank Bruni of the New York Times addresses some opponents concerns that this evolution on marriage has come “too quickly” and “in an instant.”

Nothing about this juncture feels quick if you soldiered through AIDS and the country’s awakening then to just how many gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans there are, just how profound our bonds can be, just how fiercely we’re willing to fight for them, just how ardently we ache to be included.

Nothing about it feels quick if you consider that Evan Wolfson, a chief architect of the political quest for same-sex marriage, wrote a thesis on the topic at Harvard Law School in 1983, or if you remember how passionately the issue of same-sex marriage was debated in the 1990s, when the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was passed.

Nothing about it feels quick if you’re among or you know gay and lesbian Americans who, in a swelling tide, summoned the grit and honed the words to tell family members, friends and co-workers the truth of our lives. Our candor came from more than personal need. It reflected our yearning for a world beyond silence and fear, and we knew that the only way to get there was through these small, aggregate acts of courage.

Same-sex marriage isn’t some overnight cause, some progressive novelty, especially not when it’s put in its proper context, as part of a struggle for gay rights that has been plenty long, patient and painful.

[snip]

Ask Edie Windsor. Her protest of the estate taxes that she was ordered to pay — but that a widow with a dead husband instead of a dead wife would have been spared — prompted the Supreme Court to gut DOMA two years ago.

She was married in Canada in 2007. When her wife first proposed to her, she gave Windsor a brooch instead of a ring, so that the diamond didn’t prompt questions from co-workers.

That was in 1967: nearly half a century ago. So don’t tell her that the idea of same-sex marriage needs more time to ripen.

The full op-ed can be found here.

Forward.

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Poll: Sixty-Five Percent Of Americans Expect SCOTUS To Rule In Favor Of Marriage Equality

A new poll from Public Religion Research Institute shows 65% of Americans expect the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide.

• 65% expect the state bans currently in place (14 states) to be struck down.

• 55% of Americans support marriage equality; 37% oppose.

• 69% of Americans say they favor laws that protect LGBT folks against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing.

• 60% of Americans oppose allowing private business owners refusing to serve LGBTs.

• 65% of Americans say they have a close friend or family member who is gay or lesbian.

• 11% of Americans say they have a close friend or family member who is transgender.

(source)

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Haters Buy Full-Page Ad In Washington Post To SCOTUS: We Won’t Honor Your Same-Sex Ruling

Click to enlarge the pic

A group of hate groups and “Christian” leaders, under the banner name “Defend Marriage” has purchased and published a full-page message to SCOTUS in the Washington Post.

At the bottom of the ad, you see a list of the usual suspects: Mat Staver, Elaine Donnelly, the Benham brothers, Alveda King, Jim Garlow, John Hagee and E.W. Jackson.

From the ad:

We affirm that any judicial opinion which purports to redefine marriage will constitute an unjust law, as Martin Luther King Jr. described such laws in his letter from the Birmingham Jail.

We are Christians who love America and who respect the legitimate rule of law.

However, we will not honor any decision by the Supreme Court which will force us to violate a clear biblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman.

We affirm that Marriage, as existing solely between one man and one woman, precedes civil government.

Though affirmed, fulfilled, and elevated by faith, the truth that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman is not based solely on religion but on the Natural Law, written on the human heart.

It’s worth noting that SCOTUS has already voted in private on the case. All we’re waiting for is for the opinions to be written and released.

(h/t JMG)

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Alabama: Anti-Gay Group Rallies Against Marriage Equality For Possibly The Last Time?

Does this look like 1,000 people?

The anti-gay Sanctity of Marriage group organized what might be seen as a last ditch effort to demonstrate against same-sex marriage in advance of the impending ruling from SCOTUS.

Almost 1,000 people braved the heat and sun for the event, congregating under shade trees and umbrellas to escape the sun.

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

A large part of the crowd was there to support Christian values and traditional marriage, but many were there in opposition to show their support of same-sex marriage.

Signs that read, “1 Man+1 Woman= marriage” and “Marriage is a Sacred Covenant,” were seen right alongside those that read, “Love will win!” and “I don’t follow your religion and you can’t make me.”

U.S. Representative Gary Palmer appreciated the crowd’s civility, but pointed out one of the signs from the same-sex camp.

“I’ve seen these signs that read, ‘I don’t follow your religion and you can’t make me,'” Palmer said. “Well that’s not the point. You can’t make us not believe what we believe.”

It’s always so interesting that the haters opposing marriage equality frame the issue as LGBTs and our allies want to “make” them do anything.

No one who supports same-sex marriage really cares about the haters. Just let the gays live their lives with the same rights as you.

The real issue is the haters want to KEEP US from being equal.

Our goal has no effect on your lives; your goal denies us rights.

Got that?