Hit & Run Blog:
In his majority opinion today invaliding Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Anthony Kennedy employed two of the most common themes in his jurisprudence: federalism and liberty. Beginning first with the observation that “the Federal Government, throughout our history, has deferred to state-law policy decisions with respect to domestic relations,” Kennedy explained how DOMA’s requirement that that federal government refuse to recognize a valid same-sex marriage from a state served to upset that longstanding federalist balance.
“The significance of state responsibilities for the definition and regulation of marriage dates to the Nation’s beginning,” he continued, strongly suggesting that DOMA might be invalidated on federalism grounds alone.
But then he pivoted. “It is unnecessary to decide whether this federal intrusion on state power is a violation of the Constitution,” he wrote. That’s because DOMA’s infringement on the 5th Amendment is itself so severe. “Though Congress has great authority to design laws to fit its own conception of sound national policy, it cannot deny the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.”
In other words, the government overreached and liberty suffered. “The principal purpose and the necessary effect of this law are to demean those persons who are in a lawful same-sex marriage,” he wrote. As a result, DOMA must fall. Kennedy adopted a similar approach in 2003 when he invalidated Texas’ ban on homosexual conduct in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, a decision handed down 10 years ago today. “Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct,” he declared at the outset of that case, before striking down the law as an illegitimate exercise of government power.
Many gay rights advocates had hoped for a similar ruling by Kennedy this morning against California’s Proposition 8, the voter initiative banning gay marriage in that state.
And our resident homosexuals will wade in on this in 3……2……
After listening to the explanation of this decision, each state still has the right to vote yea or nay for same sex marriage. If I am not mistaken there are 34 states that voted for man-woman marriage. It will remain that way. The advice given was to concentrate on state law because they would lose federally. So those who want to marry same sex still have to find a state that allows it.
The ruling on Prop 8 was despicable. The people of california overwhelmingly voted to limit marriage to one man and one women, and a homosexual judge in California declared the will of the people unconstitutional. Then Gov Moonbeam and his state AG refused to defend the voter approved amendment to the California state constitution, forcing private citizens to defend the will of the people in court…and SCOTUS declared that private citizens do not have standing to bring this up before the court.
This is a gross miscarriage of justice, when state officials can ignore their duties under the law, and the federal court system then robs the people of the right of redress.
The fact that leftists are allowed to get away with this kind of chicanery to force the rest of us to accept that which is inherently wrong is despicable. Truly.
@enchanted:
I am not sure you are correct. There is that whole “full faith and credit” clause in the U.S. Constitution. But on the flip side, if Kansas is required to recognize same sex marriage from California, then New York will be required to recognize concealed carry gun laws from Arizona.
@retire05:
The DOMA decision means that the Federal government cannot dsicriminate against what a specific state decides regarding the definition of “marriage”…meaning that in places where federal government provides benefits to spouses, the federal government cannot deny those spousal benefits to homosexuals who have a state certificate that classifies them as “married”. What is bizarre in contrast is the SCOTUS Prop 8 ruling that vacated the appeals court ruling that had overturned the homosexual california judge’s ruling that Prop 8 (a voter approved constitutional amendment) was “unconstitutional” in California. SCOTUS basically said that private citizens have no standing to file suit to have voter passed laws upheld when the government officials of the state refuse to do their duty to uphold state laws with which they disagree.
The homosexual lobbying groups have already declared that their goal is to force all states to accept their abonimation as “normal”. The next battle will be coming as states that have already passed amendments to their state constitutions (like Texas) that limit marriage to one man and one woman are sued by homosexuals demanding their “marriages” by states that falsely normalize homosexuality be accepted under “FFAC” clause of US Constitution, as you allude to in your post.
This is yet another reason it is so important to get a conservative elected president in 2016, as well as a conservative majority in the Senate. If another anti-American leftist is elected then the court will swing even farther to the left and you can count on state constitutions that defend traditional marriage being crushed under the federal leftist jackboot.
It does not all appear gloom and doom though, as the VRA was finally overturned, so getting voter ID laws in place before the next election may actually have a chance.
Obama is in Senegal in Africa right now.
Senegal is one of 38 African countries that outlaw homosexuality.
But Obama could not respect his hosts on this issue.
In Dakar, capital of Senagal, Obama said equal rights should be recognized universally.
Senegalese President Macky Sall rebuffed Obama’s call for Africans to give gays equal rights under the law.
“We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality,” Sall said.
Nine of 10 respondents in Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria believe homosexuality should not be accepted by society.
“We are in a Muslim country, so we certainly cannot have it here,” said a 19-year-old student.
In Senegal a homosexual act is punishable by up to five years in prison.
But ”proof” is not needed for jail time:
Ndeye Kebe, president of a human rights organization that works with homosexuals said, “I know of around a dozen people who are in prison for homosexuality as we speak. There wasn’t any real proof against them, but they were found guilty and they are in prison.”
In 2008 there was a crackdown on homosexuals. Gays went into hiding or fled to neighboring countries, but they were pushed out of Gambia by the president’s threat of decapitation.
Obama’s view of all this?
“Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in Africa and one of the strongest partners that we have in the region,” Obama said. “It’s moving in the right direction with reforms to deepen democratic institutions.”
Quotes from:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-27-09-18-52