The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has upheld the January 2014 U.S. District Court for Oklahoma ruling in Bishop v. Smith striking down that state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional, in a 2-1 decision. The opinion is by Judge Carlos Lucero. Read the opinion Here (.pdf).
The panel that decided this case, Judges Carlos Lucero, Jerome Holmes and Paul Kelly, are the same three judges who heard the Utah case of Kitchen v. Herbert. Judges Lucero and Holmes voted to strike down both states’ marriage bans. Judge Kelly dissented. The court has stayed its decision to allow the parties to seek U.S. Supreme Court review.
A judge in the Florida Keys overturned the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday after a legal challenge by gay couples said it effectively made them second-class citizens.
The ruling by Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia applies only to Monroe County, which primarily consists of the Keys, and will certainly be appealed. The lawsuit contended that the same-sex marriage ban approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2008 violated the federal 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The judge said licenses could not be issued until Tuesday at the earliest.
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Gay marriage proponents have won more than 20 legal decisions around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year, although those rulings remain in various stages of appeal. Many legal experts say the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately have to decide the question for all states.
Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.
Supporters lined the main drag in Oracle, with bilingual or Spanish signs welcoming the the refugee children.
Demonstrators with dueling banners and ideologies lined the roads of rural Oracle, Arizona on Tuesday awaiting the arrival of 40-60 child refugees. An estimated 150 protesters, dozens of law enforcement officers (including the K-9 unit), and every TV, print, and online journalist imaginable came out to “greet” the bus of unaccompanied Central American children.
Oracle residents and other refugee supporters from Somos America, Progressive Democrats of America, South Side Presbyterian Church, and the Alliance for Global Justice gathered at 6:30 a.m.
The original anti-immigrant protest was organized by Oracle’s self-proclaimed “Paul Revere” Robert Skiba, who was tipped off regarding the busload of refugee children by Pinal County’s Tea Party Sheriff Paul Babeu. Babeu’s grandstanding on Facebook about the federal government’s failed immigration policies, and Skiba’s boasting about a bus blockade to multiple media outlets sparked a counter protest initiated by Oracle residents who were concerned about the welfare of the children. E-mail blasts, Facebook, Twitter, blog posts like this one, and a re-Tweet by Rachel Maddow’s blog brought out the crowds, including sympathizers on both sides who drove in from Tucson and Phoenix.
Much of the media coverage has focused on tiny events that occurred during the four hours that we all waited for the bus to arrive. (More details and photos after the jump.)
Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com On Tuesday morning, some goobers in Arizona thought they were going to repeat what goobers in Murrieta, CA did last week, when they got a bus full of refugees from Honduras to turn around, and border agents to stop sending anymore migrant children through their community, by being screaming assholes. Sadly for … Read more
Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com Terrorizing brown people, of course! HighGround, the firm owned by Chuck Coughlin (Arizona’s true Governor) which represents GOP candidate Scott Smith, released a poll of the upcoming primary. The results for Governor track with other recent polls showing Doug Ducey and Christine Jones vying for the lead but still a lot of … Read more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has upheld the January 2014 U.S. District Court for Oklahoma ruling in Bishop v. Smith striking down that state’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional, in a 2-1 decision. The opinion is by Judge Carlos Lucero. Read the opinion Here (.pdf).
