Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Gay Marriage Likely To Go Before Supreme Court Within The Next Year

[BostonPirate]

Ginsburg spoke at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She was asked a student-submitted question about the equal-protection clause and whether the nation's high court would consider it applying to sexual orientation.

Ginsburg said with a smile that she couldn't answer the question. She said she could not talk about matters that would come to the court, and that the Defense of Marriage Act would probably be up soon.

"I think it's most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term," she said.

The 1996 law has been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in New York and is awaiting arguments before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Those oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 27.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-gay-marriage_n_1898815.html

So we have a date in court Gentlemen.

This hightlights one issue of great importance to gay men and women, as well as those that support us. The supreme court is always of great concern, but never so much as when we are selecting a president, as he is the man that nominates supreme court justices.

It's likely that we will lose one or two of them in the next four years. Who is a better choice to fill that seat? who has kept all his promises to the gay community? President Obama or Romney?

All Romney has promised is to let his religious views held against gay people determine that our rights should be taken away from us.

 

[MassRuss]

That's a no brainer Capt. Any gay person who votes for Romney = NO BRAIN!!

 

[frankfrank]

Anybody who is gay and votes for Romney has a DEATH WISH.

 

[Rolyo85]

This is great news, and it's also great news that she didn't mention Prop 8. And I agree with the last two posts. But self-hate is a typical ailment of the gay community...

 

[spooger]

This is great news, and it's also great news that she didn't mention Prop 8. And I agree with the last two posts. But hate is a typical ailment of the gay community...

fixed that one

 

[ReadyWithReadyWit]

Yep, great news. After so many years of justified cynicism in the community... real progress has been made in the last couple of years... it would be such a slap in the face to have this progress suddenly halted... we are SO close we can taste it... I am actually genuinely optimistic and excited.

 

[rareboy]

Isn't there a problem though with the Prop 8 case then?

Won't hearing DOMA also then mean that Prop 8 has to be held until after DOMA? Refusing to hear it now would restore homo marriage in California immediately which one assumes would be held to exert a great influence on hearing DOMA.

 

[rareboy]

I guess what I'm asking is...if SC decides not to hear Prop8...does that send any message about the DOMA case? I'm just wondering how the SC can juggle the two. If they allow DOMA to stand, what impact does that have on Prop8 or vice versa?

It just seems confusing to an outsider to have these two cases potentially both up for consideration by the SC.

 

[rareboy]

Good grief!

It's the morning...



They really are profoundly different questions.

Other than proving that the court has a generically pro-gay marriage stance, I don't think so.

Roberts may not be pro-gay, but vote in favor of striking down Section 3 of DOMA because he believes more than the liberal justices that the federal government is limited. The reason he will likely deny Hollingsworth is to save the court the tumultuous outcome.

That I think is the crux of my question.

If SC accepts both DOMA and Prop8, it has to indicate that the decision on one may be connected to the other. If they decline Prop8, how in the world could they ever issue a decision in support of DOMA?

 

[rareboy]

It seems that the justices' decisions are all to some degree, extra legal.

Certainly we always know what Thomas and Scalia are going to full out of their fundaments.

 

[Rolyo85]

fixed that one

[Text: Removed by Moderator]

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Personally, I think Prop 8 is a completely unrelated issue. Whether the federal government recognizes gay marriage or not has nothing to do with whether states can take away rights they have already granted. The Prop 8 case isn't about gay marriage at all, and I don't think the Supreme Court should deal with it.

 

[Kulindahr]

That I think is the crux of my question.

If SC accepts both DOMA and Prop8, it has to indicate that the decision on one may be connected to the other. If they decline Prop8, how in the world could they ever issue a decision in support of DOMA?

They're two entirely different issues -- only to us is there any similarity.

In a way, though, they're both about states' rights: Prop 8 is about the rights of a state v those of the people, while DOMA is the rights of states v those of the federal government. Both, of course, involve the individual rights of citizens, but for the legal issues involved it really is irrelevant that gay citizens are the focus.

 

[bankside]

Who would keep his promises?

President Obama has done better than promised for equality, grown as a leader, and paved the way for full equality in marriage and public life.

Romney would do exactly as promised, and you'd all be under his sanctimonious boot with your second-class citizenship in tact, while he bleats about "family values," and cuts not "government" but government services that people actually use to build lives for themselves.

 

[Sammie13]

I don't keep up with the Supremes nearly as much as I should, but I would hope gay marriage doesn't go before the court until we have enough left-leaning justices so that we can assure victory.

That being said, which justices are likely to be the next to retire/die and be replaced? Ginsberg, bless her heart, looked like she had one foot in the grave the day Clinton selected her.

 

[rareboy]

As long as there is a puff of breath left in his carcass, Scalia will be on the bench.

 

[Stardreamer]

On a related note, Politifact has upgraded Obama's promise to repeal DOMA to officially 'Broken' as the Democrats largely shelved the legislative effort to repeal it, the Respect for Marriage Act, in the Senate without debate or vote over a year ago. The overthrowing of DOMA in entirely in the Court's hands now.

Despite Obama's opposition, DOMA remains on the books

 

[Kulindahr]

On a related note, Politifact has upgraded Obama's promise to repeal DOMA to officially 'Broken' as the Democrats largely shelved the legislative effort to repeal it, the Respect for Marriage Act, in the Senate without debate or vote over a year ago. The overthrowing of DOMA in entirely in the Court's hands now.

Despite Obama's opposition, DOMA remains on the books

I'd call that a partial, not a broken, because he stopped defending it. Not pushing it in the Senate was merely common sense -- the Senate would be more useful picking up trash off the runways over at the air base than working on something that's just going to get filibustered.

 

[Stardreamer]

I'd call that a partial, not a broken, because he stopped defending it. Not pushing it in the Senate was merely common sense -- the Senate would be more useful picking up trash off the runways over at the air base than working on something that's just going to get filibustered.

I suspect they are basing it on that the promise was to 'repeal' it not just let the courts overturn it. If he spent no political capital on a legislative solution then he never really tried to fulfill this promise. But it is a matter of opinion. I don't think they have a partial status, just 'in the works' or 'compromise'. I suppose you could make a case that his standing down the justice department's defense a compromise.

 

[Kulindahr]

It will get interesting if the GOP loses the House.

Or even comes close to losing it. There's a batch of Republican congressmen willing to work with the other side. They'll have good company if a certain group formed for the single purpose of getting rid of Tea Party congresscritters, which claims they have a very good chance of unseating a dozen of the TP (including our favorite Michelle Bachmann).

 

[Kulindahr]

I think it will take Pelosi to shut down the BLAG.

?? I thought blag was a verb.