Same-sex marriage headed to the Supreme Court

Republicans secretly probably hope the courts make a definitive pro marriage equality ruling as it takes the issue off the table and they have an excuse to stop pandering to the demands of the bigots. That will improve their image with the moderates and change the topic.

They'll just shift their pandering from "we'll rescue marriage from those faggots! ", to "activist judges!! ".

Sounds like he's trying to come up with a reason that constitutional conservatives can't really argue with, and which pretty much requires him to vote in favor of marriage equality.

Just like Roe took abortion off the table? They'll do as Diacanu suggests, and they will also make half hearted attempts at amending the Constitution. They want the issue because it fires up the few people still willing to vote Republican. They'll keep it burning for a while longer. Meanwhile, the rest of us will enjoy watching our partnered friends get married -- all of our friends.

Ireland is having a referendum on gay marriage in less than a month. I will be voting in favour, and the referendum seems likely to pass comfortably.

I thought it was already legal in Ireland, as I have a couple friends there who are married and adopted a son.

The 8th circuit was scheduled to hear arguments in May, but they've canceled them and put the case on hold pending the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell. The 8th is very conservative and was expected to rule in favor of the bans. I think they realized which way things are leaning and decided to save themselves the embarrassment of being reversed right away.

The fifth heard arguments in January and has yet to issue a ruling. The 5th is usually one of the fastest circuits to release decisions, but in this case more time has passed since oral arguments than with any other appeals court that heard a marriage case.

That's a surprisingly good point. Most right wing people don't actually give a shit about this and it takes away from other issues.

That, and the 8th was apparently busy upholding Civil Forfeiture

That's because sexuality is about one percent of what people do, and thus the sexuality of what one percent of the people do is worth about 0.01 percent of everybody's discussion time. But we've raised a generation of kids who think all problems are properly defined in terms of race and gender, even their brake pads (is the mechanic sufficiently LGBT inclusive?), species diversity (what percentage of penguins are gay?), and orbital mechanics (Is it right that the planet only rotates in one direction?). They're mentally crippled by only being taught one tool to use on all possible subjects.

They have civil unions in Ireland, which confer the same rights as marriage, but can't be called as such.

I'm surprised there's even a remote chance of that passing, given how the Catholic Church is the unofficial party of Ireland.

SCOTUS is set to wrap up the current term within the next couple of weeks, so we should have a decision soon. There are currently 17 cases pending.

A ruling issued Monday in an immigration case suggests how the justices might rule on the pending marriage case. In the Kerry v Din ruling, Scalia blasts the court for giving too much deference to made up rights and was joined by Justice Roberts. Kennedy concurred in outcome only, but didn't agree with Scalia's reasoning suggesting that the upcoming decision will likely be 5-4.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-06-15/for-now-there-s-no-constitutional-right-to-marriage

Roy Moore suspended from office: Alabama chief justice faces removal over gay marriage stance

For the second time in his career, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore faces charges before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary and potential removal from office.

Until that court hears and rules on those charges, Moore will be suspended with pay from his position atop the state's highest court.

On Friday, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission forwarded charges to the commission, accusing the chief justice of violating judicial ethics in his opposition to same-sex marriage.


Despite a ruling by a federal judge in Mobile making same-sex marriage legal in Alabama last year, and in the face of a United States Supreme Court ruling last year making its legality the law of the land, Moore instructed probate judges throughout Alabama to ignore those higher courts and to refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Moore's actions led the Southern Poverty Law Center to file complaints with the commission, which acts much in the same way as a grand jury. When it receives a complaint, the commission investigates and decides whether to forward charges to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.

The process remains secret unless charges are made, as happened Friday evening. Unless Moore reaches a settlement, he will be tried before that court, with the Alabama Attorney General's Office prosecuting.

On Friday evening, SPLC President Richard Cohen said that Moore has disgraced his office and should be removed.

"He is such an egomaniac and such a religious zealot that he thinks he can ignore court orders with impunity," Cohen said. "For the sake of our state, he should be kicked out of office."


This is the second time Moore has faced such charges. In 2003, the Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from office after he installed a washing machine-sized monument of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building in Montgomery. Moore refused a federal court order to remove the monument, leading to his removal from the state's highest court.


His obstinance this time, though, is worse, Cohen said. "This time, he has instructed every probate judge in the state to violate a court order."
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More at the link.

Good. Fuck that asshole.

No pun intended.

"Gay people are mentally ill!! BTW, my invisible friend tells me to break the law!! ".

How did he keep his job after the 10 commandments flap, anyway?

He didn't. He was removed from office, but since the judges on the Alabama Supreme Court are elected, he just ran for his old job and got it again. The same thing will probably happen again if he's removed from office, so I wouldn't get too excited.

That's fucked up and hilarious all at the same time.

So he's the Marion Barry of judges. Neat.

Judges on the Alabama Supreme Court need to be under 70 at the time of election. Moore's 69 right now, so there's some hope on that front. He'd have to be elected this year, and he'd have to knock another sitting Republican judge off the ballot to do that. The timeline for that can't be favorable for Moore, if it's even possible at this point, and opposing a sitting judge of his own party is the kind of election he might actually lose in Alabama.

Judges also need to be licensed to practice law, and forfeiting his license really should be part of his punishment this time around, although that's probably not too likely.