Tag: SCOTUS

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Department Of Justice Files “Friend Of The Court” Brief At SCOTUS In Support Of Marriage Equality

Just hours ago I reported on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s op-ed which promised an amicus brief at SCOTUS in support of the upcoming marriage equality cases on April 28th from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

And, like magic, here it is.

In the 46 page filing, the DOJ urges the high court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage because, “there is no adequate justification for such a discriminatory and injurious exercise of state power.”

From the brief:

“The marriage bans challenged in these cases impermissibly exclude lesbian and gay couples from the rights, responsibilities, and status of civil marriage. These facially discriminatory laws impose concrete harms on same-sex couples and send the inescapable message that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, unworthy of the recognition and benefits that opposite-sex couples take for granted. The bans cannot be reconciled with the fundamental constitutional guarantee of ‘equal protection of the laws.’”

I have to wonder with all the amicus briefs in our favor (and I know there are others filed against us), do they really resonate with the U.S. Supreme Court?

Hundreds of major corporations and hundreds of high-profile Republicans, the U.S. government itself – does it hold any sway with the nine judges on the high court? The fact that over 70% of Americans now live in states with marriage equality – does it weigh in on the outcome?

I’m hoping so.

Read the entire filing below.

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Attorney General Eric Holder: “Nothing justifies excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage”

Attorney General Eric Holder

In an op-ed for USA Today, US Attorney General Eric Holder makes clear his – and the administration’s – support for marriage equality across the United States:

This week, the Justice Department will file a brief setting forth our position that state bans on same-sex marriage violate the fundamental constitutional guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” It is clear that the time has come to recognize that gay and lesbian people deserve robust protection from discrimination.

Nothing justifies excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage. Denying them the right to marry serves only to demean them and their children, to degrade the dignity of their families and to deny them the full, free and equal participation in American life to which every citizen is entitled.

Marriage bans inflict concrete harms that touch nearly every aspect of daily life for gay and lesbian couples. The bans intersect with issues as varied as workers’ compensation, taxation and inheritance, posing challenges to basic financial security. Same-sex couples living in states with bans too often face obstacles to adopting and raising children together. And restrictions on medical decision-making and hospital visitation impose devastating burdens during the moments when a partner is needed most.

Read the entire essay at USA Today here.

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SCOTUS: 300 Prominent Republicans Sign Amicus Brief In Support Of Same-Sex Marriage

A “friend of the court” brief in support of marriage equality has been signed and filed at the U.S. Supreme Court by more than 300 high profile Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants.

From Time:

The amicus brief, organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, was filed for the four same-sex marriage cases the Court will hear on April 28 that could legalize the unions nationwide. In 2013, Mehlman marshaled a similar effort for the case that overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage in the state.

Among the signatories are 23 current and former Republicans members of the House of Representatives and Senate and seven current and former Governors. Sens. Susan Collins and Mark Kirk have signed onto the brief, as has Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Other notables include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal and billionaire GOP mega-donor David Koch.

SCOTUS has scheduled oral arguments in the cases regarding same-sex marriage from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for April 28th.

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SCOTUS: Hundreds Of Major Corporations Sign Brief In Support Of Same-Sex Marriage

Bloomberg Business reports that almost 400 major corporations have signed on to a “friend of the court” brief in support of same-sex marriage urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down anti-gay marriage laws.

In a friend-of-the-court brief expected to be filed on Thursday, hundreds of banks and other corporations argue that states that still prohibit gay unions “hamper employer efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible in those states.”

Major companies and financial institutions previously have backed the campaign to recognize same-sex unions, so the brief isn’t a surprise. What’s impressive is that as of Wednesday night, 379 corporations and employer organizations had signed on to the amicus brief, representing industries from technology to financial services, transportation to consumer products, retail to restaurants to sports.

Among those that signed on: Aetna, Alcoa, Amazon.com, American Airlines, American Express, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Barclays, BlackRock, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Capital One, Cardinal Health, Chubb, Cigna, Cisco, Citigroup, Colgate-Palmolive, ConAgra, Corning, Credit Suisse Securities, CVS Health, Delta Air Lines, Deutsche Bank, Dow Chemical, EBay, Facebook, General Electric, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hartford Financial Services, Hilton, HSBC, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Kimberly-Clark, KPMG, Levi Strauss, Marriott, Marsh & McLennan, Massachusetts Mutual, McKinsey, Microsoft, MillerCoors, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide Mutual, the New England Patriots, New York Life, Nike, Northrop Grumman, Office Depot, Oracle, Orbitz, Pandora, PepsiCo, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, Qualcomm, RBC Capital Markets, the San Francisco Giants, Staples, Symantec, the Tampa Bay Rays, Target, TD Bank, Twitter, UBS, United Airlines, Verizon, Walt Disney, Wells Fargo, and Zynga.

It was announced today that SCOTUS will hear the arguments for same-sex marriage cases from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 28th.

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Conservative Billionaire David Koch Joins Amicus Brief In Favor Of Marriage Equality

David Koch

David Koch, billionaire donor to Republican/conservative campaigns, has announced he will join an amicus brief in support of marriage equality at the U.S. Supreme Court:

The brief he will reportedly sign in DeBoer v. Snyder, a case that could afford same-sex couples a constitutional right to marry, will host a number of other prominent conservative signatories, including retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former Reagan White House chief of staff Ken Duberstein and former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman. News of the brief was first reported Tuesday by The Washington Post.

An attorney for Koch Industries told the Free Beacon that Koch will join the brief in a personal capacity, indicating his support for gay marriage does not necessarily indicate a larger message from the Koch network of donors.

In 2012, Koch, the Libertarian Party’s 1980 vice presidential candidate, told POLITICO that he supported gay marriage, despite backing Mitt Romney and a host of other conservative candidates who favored varieties of same-sex marriage bans.

The brief will argue that providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples ultimately strengthens the institution of marriage and that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should prohibit state bans on same-sex marriage.

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MSNBC Features One-On-One With Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Last night, Rachel Maddow featured a one-on-one interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, currently the oldest serving justice on SCOTUS.

In the interview, the judicial firebrand addresses questions about when she might step down, and what she considers “unfinished business” in gender equality.

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Supreme Court Justice Scalia: “Don’t Paint Me As Anti-Gay”

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia took umbrage at the idea that he would somehow be seen as “anti-gay” during a joint appearance with Ruth Bader Ginsberg last night at George Washington University.

Via Washington Blade:

“The issue of gay rights, on abortion, on many of the issues in which Ruth’s opinions and mine differ does not pertain to the substance,” he said. “It doesn’t pertain to whether gay people ought to have those rights or whether there ought to be a constitutional right or a right to an abortion,” he said.

“That isn’t the issue. The issue is who decides,” Scalia told the gathering. “That’s all. I don’t have any public views on any of those things. The point is who decides? Should these decisions be made by the Supreme Court without any text in the Constitution or any history in the Constitution to support imposing on the whole country or is it a matter left to the people?” he asked.

“But don’t paint me as anti-gay or anti-abortion or anything else,” he added. “All I’m doing on the Supreme Court is opining about who should decide.”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg added, “It isn’t the Supreme Court that is deciding for the whole society like an imperial ruler. There hasn’t been any major change in which there wasn’t a groundswell among the people before the Supreme Court put its stamp of approval on the inclusion in the equality concept of people who were once left out,” she said.

While Scalia may not like the label “anti-gay,” in 2013, he referred to gays as an “invented minority” in regard to recent rulings on same-sex marriage.

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Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg: America’s Views Towards Gays Has Changed

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke with Bloomberg’s Greg Stohr and Matthew Winkler this week on the sweeping changes in attitudes towards gays in the US.

“The change in people’s attitudes on that issue has been enormous,” Ginsburg said. “In recent years, people have said, ‘This is the way I am.’ And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door neighbor — we’re very fond of them. Or it’s our child’s best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out and said that ‘this is who I am,’ the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.”

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President Obama Looks To SCOTUS To End “Patchwork” Marriage Laws

Via Buzzfeed: President Obama Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s signals that marriage equality is on the verge of becoming the law of the land, adding that he expected local Alabama officials resisting the shift to be swept aside by federal courts.

The Supreme Court Monday morning refused to put on hold a federal court ruling striking down Alabama’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages while the ruling is appealed, with Justice Clarence Thomas making clear in a dissent that the court’s action would be seen as a sign the court will soon rule that the Constitution requires equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make a shift, one that I welcome, which is to recognize that — having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage — it doesn’t make sense for us to now have this patchwork system,” Obama said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “It’s time to recognize that under the equal protection clause of the United States [Constitution], same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else.”

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Post by BuzzFeed News.