Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

same-sex marriage

State’s Rights vs Federal Courts … 2015 version

From Alabama:



Roy Moore and his big stones

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore standing in the courthouse door (editorial opinion from al.com):

Almost 52 years ago Gov. George Wallace made his infamous stand in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to block two black students from registering for classes.

It was really all for show. Wallace knew he had no authority to stop the students. The federal courts had ruled that the time had come to integrate UA […]

… last night Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore ordered all probate judges not to follow the federal order and instead continue to enforce the state’s ban against same sex marriage. Moore threatened that any probate judge carrying out the federal court order could be impeached …

He is trying to stand in the courthouse door as surely as Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door. Shame on him.[…]

What happens next? I don’t know. Moore is standing in the courthouse door. He represents the old days, the days of fear and misunderstanding and the denial of equal rights.

Bentley will gather with his lawyers today to mull his options.

I hope the governor will follow his instincts and remember to be the governor of all the people, something Wallace forgot.

From the Supreme Court of the United States:

[The ] Supreme Court denied Alabama’s request to put same-sex marriages on hold pending the appeal of two cases.

Justice Thomas and Justice Scalia dissented, writing, “Today’s decision represents yet another example of this Court’s increasingly cavalier attitude toward the States. Over the past few months, the Court has repeatedly denied stays of lower court judgments enjoining the enforcement of state laws on questionable constitutional grounds.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a black American who benefited from the civil rights battles of the 1960s, giving cover to this century’s states righters.  

More below the fold …

BREAKING: Supreme Court Denies Petitions on Marriage Ban Appeals

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Breaking News E-mail

Gay marriages to resume as Supreme Court rejects appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned away appeals from Wisconsin and four other states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay and lesbian unions.

NY Times Breaking News E-mail

Supreme Court Clears Way for Gay Marriage in 5 States

The Supreme Court on Monday denied review in all five pending same-sex marriage cases, clearing the way for such marriages to proceed in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban.



This just got upended

UPDATE: What it looks like now

SCOTUSblog

This morning the Court issued additional orders from its September 29 Conference.   Most notably, the Court denied review of all seven of the petitions arising from challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage.  This means that the lower-court decisions striking down bans in Indiana, Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma, and Virginia should go into effect shortly, clearing the way for same-sex marriages in those states and any other state with similar bans in those circuits.

Over 30 states now must allow same-sex marriage.

More news items below …