Tag Archives: SCOTUS

“I agree with most of the commentary so far: it looks like DOMA is doomed. Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor made plain their view that the federal government’s refusal to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples simply because they are same-sex couples is not justified by any legitimate rationale. Justice Kennedy, the fifth and deciding vote, also expressed the …

Rachel Maddow predicted this last night.

“Witnessing a historic moment is such an odd and exhilarating thing. It is hard to register the full scope of it because you are chest deep in it.That is how I feel about the gay-marriage arguments made before the Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday.However the court rules on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal government’s Defense of Marriage Act, …

Yesterday President Obama spoke with the nation’s two largest Spanish-language networks regarding this week’s marriage cases before the Supreme Court.  Speaking to Univision: “I never predict what the court will do. But I used to teach constitutional law, and there is certainly a strong basis for determining that in this age, given what we now know, given the changes that …

“In light of the historic deliberations of the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage, it would be appropriate for the General Assembly of Rhode Island to defer any action on this critical issue for the time being. Any legislative action that is taken now could very well be rendered completely null and void by the decision of the Supreme Court …

Clip description: Gay rights activist David Mixner, transgender activist Laverne Cox and Huffington Post Gay Voices Editor Noah Michelson join “Say Anything!” guest host Judy Gold to consider how attitudes toward marriage equality are shifting. The Supreme Court heard arguments relating to the Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday. Worth your time.

Great recap of yesterday.

The transcript of today’s oral arguments on DOMA has been posted. I’ll add the audio recording to this post shortly. UPDATE: Here’s the full audio.

From the New York Times: A majority of the justices on Wednesday questioned the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, as the Supreme Court took up the volatile issue of same-sex marriage for a second day. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, widely considered the swing vote on the divided court, joined the four liberals in posing skeptical questions …

Via JMG reader Darius. Post title reference.

Britain’s Daily Mail today published a raving story that describes the gay participant in yesterday’s scuffle outside the US Supreme Court as an Occupy Wall Street activist who has demonstrated in support of murdered Florida teen Trayvon Martin. And therefore, by implication, he’s a nut. Midway through a National Organization protest in front of the US Supreme Court building, punches …

DOMA plaintiff Edith Windsor arrived at the Supreme Court this morning flanked by supporters and her legal team.  Reporter Rex Wockner is there and sends us the below photo. There are a lot of people from both sides outside the Court, but the scene is much more subdued than yesterday’s madness.

“A diverse crowd of more than 10,000 marched today to show that those who protect marriage are on the right side of history. The fact that our supporters remained peaceful, kneeling in prayer and singing songs and chants even in the face of verbal attacks and intimidation by our opponents is a testament to the respectful way pro-marriage activists carry …

Video by activist Mark S. King. Nice touch with the music when the red-caped Catholic loons appear.

Millions and millions of gay people in America and NOM has found exactly three who are self-hating enough to take their paychecks.

Protect Marriage lead counsel Andy Pugno seems resigned to a narrow loss. “A victory for US would be to return this issue to the voters of the states.”

UPDATE: Here’s the transcript.

Watching the CSPAN coverage, I noted many people getting quite confrontational, particularly after the red-caped Catholic loons invaded the gay side with their bagpipes and drums.  Others were blowing shofars to drown out the pro-gay chants.  All that died down as the tweets from inside the Court began to arrive. No reports of arrests so far.