Well, that was cowardly. But I suppose it’s better than hearing the cases and churning out another twisted, activist justification for discrimination.
Rather than hear appeals from cases in Utah, Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin where marriage equality bans were struck down, the U.S. Supreme Court shocked court watchers today by deciding to avoid the issue of marriage equality as a Constitutional right entirely for the time being. Effectively, that means the lower-court rulings stand in each of those states, so freedom, liberty and the conservative Constitutional value of equal justice for all wins the day in each of them.
Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a national organization dedicated to the fight for equality in all fifty states, said after today’s Supreme Court punt: “This decision by the Court is a huge step forward — and a clear green light for full-speed ahead — but it needlessly postpones the national resolution that together we’ve been working so hard for. Freedom to Marry is committed to finishing the job.”
Couples in six other states where the Circuit Court of Appeals’ decisions will likely also apply include Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
With the addition of those 11 states, the list of states where marriage equality for all will soon be recognized will jump to 30, continuing to beg the question of which state will disgrace the Union as the very last one to allow equality, in this measure, for all of its citizens.
Given that each of these cases involved a challenge by the proponents of marriage inequality to a federal appeals court ruling that struck down discriminatory state statutes, the summary rejection of the writ petition leaves less uncertainty than would a grant of a hearing.
It seems fairly clear that the members of the Supreme Court who reject marital inequality are a distinct minority. There has only been one isolated decision, issued by the disgraced U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman, which has upheld a same sex marriage ban.
The swift SCOTUS denial of a hearing in this instance sends a clear message to the U.S. 5th Circuit which is expected to hear an appeal of Feldman’s decision. If the 5th Circuit were to overrule Feldman, that, of itself, would pretty much put the issue to bed.
Ever notice that cases in the supreme court these days happen at different rates according to stature.
Money is free speech: BOOM!
George W. Bush is the president: BAM!
Voting rights curtailed: ZAP!
Gay marriage rights: “like sands through the hour glassâ€â€¦
For what it’s worth, I expected them to deny cert, pretty much for all of the reasons Norman Goldman gave on his show today. The anti-gay justices didn’t like their chances with the current lineup of justices, and the others didn’t see any good reason to interfere with the wave of marriage equality states and actual marriages spreading across the country, making it harder and harder to reverse the trend. The Fifth Circuit does indeed appear to be the key.