Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

President Obama issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage today. Statement by the President on the Supreme Court Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act:

I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of
Marriage Act.  This was discrimination enshrined in law.  It treated
loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class
of people.  The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country
is better off for it.  We are a people who declared that we are all
created equal – and the love we commit to one another must be equal as
well. 

This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal
treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now
be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last,
will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and
supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones
treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change
for the better. 

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Same-sex marriages may resume in California as soon as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals terminates its stay order after the case is remanded back to the court from the U.S. Supreme Court, with an order to vacate the appeal. California Governor Jerry Brown has directed that counties must comply with state … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The constitutional rights of same-sex couples advanced incrementally today, but it was not a landmark decision establishing a bright-line constitutional equal protection right to same-sex marriage.

The U.S. Supreme Court today in United
States v. Windsor struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy, as he has in other gay rights cases, wrote the majority opinion of the court, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan. The court held that DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by Fifth Amendment equal protection. "DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty."

What is important in this decision is that the court adopts a "heightened scrutiny" standard of review, rather than the "rational basis" standard of review previously applied by courts in these cases. Justice Kennedy writes there is a "careful consideration" standard: In determining whether a law is
motivated by improper animus or purpose, discriminations of an unusual
character especially require careful consideration. DOMA cannot survive
under these principles.