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.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Texas state senator Wendy Davis achieved what many people thought was the impossible: she filibustered tyranny in the Texas Lege. The tyrants threw in the towel and gave up around 3:00 a.m. this morning. Dewhurst declares abortion bill dead, blames 'unruly mob: (paragraphs reordered):
Davis’ filibuster had passed the 10-hour mark, and the Fort Worth
Democrat was still going strong, when Republicans were able to stop her
from speaking with a ruling that she had violated the Senate’s
filibuster rules for a third time. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s ruling
shortly after 10 p.m. cleared the way for a simple majority of the
Republican-led body to vote to halt a filibuster that had gained
national attention, including recognition from President Barack Obama.
Dewhurst’s
ruling prompted many in the spectators’ gallery erupted in anger, with
shouts of “Shame!” giving way to sustained chants of “Let her speak!”
All business in the Senate was halted for several minutes until order
could be restored and a large group of spectators ordered to leave the
gallery.
That was nothing compared to the ruling that cut off all debate, leading to a final vote on Senate Bill 5.
State
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, had appealed the ruling, and upset
Democratic senators rose to make a series of parliamentary inquiries,
working to draw out the debate until the special session ended at
midnight.
Republicans moved to cut off debate, with Sen. Robert
Duncan, D-Lubbock, who was leading the Senate, declined to recognize
several Democrats’ calls to be recognized to speak. Pandemonium
followed.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Oh, good golly Miss Molly [Ivins], we sorely miss your wit and wisdom on the Texas Lege today.
Before a packed chamber and gallery, Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis began a
dramatic filibuster Tuesday morning designed to block passage of a
controversial and politically charged anti-abortion bill. Davis' filibuster to stop abortion bill continues:
Because the special legislative session will end at midnight, the
Fort Worth Democrat could succeed if she continues talking on Senate
Bill 5 without interruption.
Leaders in the GOP-controlled Senate
who want the bill to pass said at mid-afternoon they were considering
invoking a little-used rule to end the filibuster with a vote, a move
that other Republicans had earlier vowed not to use. They planned to let
Davis talk the day out — as long as she stays within the rules for such
speeches, with no leaning on her desk or no pausing or straying off the
subject.
[And no potty breaks.]
There was no immediate indication when the move might take place.
Davis said she intended to talk until midnight.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Civil rights leader and icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who was nearly beaten to death on Bloody Sunday marching for the right to vote, was interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC today about the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County. John Lewis: SCOTUS ‘stabbed’ civil rights law ‘in its very heart’:
Georgia Congressman Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader for the last five decades, sharply criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to strip a key enforcement mechanism from the Voting Rights Act, enacted nearly a half century ago to protect minority voters.
“What the Supreme Court did today is stab the Voting Rights Act of
1965 in its very heart,” Lewis told Mitchell Tuesday, calling the 5-4
decision to strike down the formula Congress used to determine which
districts require federal oversight of voting rules “a major step back.”
“We may not have people being beaten today, maybe they
are not being denied the right to participate or to register to vote,
they’re not being chased by police dogs or trampled by horses. But in
the 11 states of the old Confederacy and even in some of the states
outside of the South, there’s been a systematic, deliberate attempt to
take us back to another period. These men that voted to strip the Voting
Rights Act of its power, they never stood in unmovable lines. They
never had to pass a so-called literacy test. It took us almost a hundred
years to get where we are today. So will it take another hundred years
to fix it, to change it?”