fayfreethinkers.com

An interesting and exciting overview of the new ruling on Proposition 8 in California:

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"This is a tour de force-a grand slam on every count. The court held that Prop 8 violates the fundamental right to marry and discriminates on the basis of both sex and sexual orientation in violation of the equal protection clause. The court held that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation must be subject to the highest level of constitutional review, but that Prop 8 would fail even the lowest test, because it is based solely on moral disapproval of gay people. The court made detailed findings of fact about all of the evidence presented and the credibility of the witnesses. This is without a doubt a game-changing ruling. Today’s decision is the most comprehensive, detailed decision addressing the constitutional rights of same-sex couples to affirmative recognition and support ever to be issued by a federal court.

How well put together is this decision?

The decision is meticulously crafted. Judge Walker reviewed the entire record and made detailed factual findings about all of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. He also supported his ruling on multiple legal grounds. For example, he found both that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are subject to the highest level of constitutional protection, but that Prop 8 would fail even under the lowest level of protection because it serves no legitimate purpose. This is a remarkably careful, thorough, and deliberate decision, obviously written with an eye to presenting appellate courts with the strongest possible factual and legal basis for the ruling.

What’s the impact on higher courts? Why?

The appellate courts are not strictly bound by the court’s factual findings, but they generally give such findings a great deal of deference. The appellate courts also will undoubtedly will give considerable weight to Judge Walker’s careful legal analysis, although they ultimately will make their own independent assessment of what the law requires."

http://prop8trialtracker.com/

DAR
COOL.

D.
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"I’m straight and have been in a monogamous marriage for 22 years. “A right you reserve for yourself and deny others is not a right but a privilege”. I want the society that I live in to provide equal rights for all." --ibid

Random quote:

"Wow... just wanted to report the Freepers are frothing like I've never seen them! They're going Galt, loading up on tinned goods and ammo and moving to their mountain cabins, talking revolution, secession and assassination.

They just cannot BEAR the thought of living in a country where gay people are treated as if they were actual human beings.

Live by the bigotry, die by the bigotry."

538 comment thread

Update on an important graph. This is support for gay marriage changing state by state over the last 15 years.

Blue triangle is where support was 15 years ago. Red circle or dot is where it was last year:



Five-Thirty Eight

Look at Massachusetts especially. They allowed it with about 45% support and then sprinted ahead and now lead the race.

D.

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from 538 (above)-
"However, the ruling today is potentially a game-changer in that it will allow both groups to frame the issue as one of judicial activism, rather than "family values". This line of attack makes for cogent soundbytes, and it will arguably be quite salient to voters, as Walker overturned a referendum passed by the majority of California's voters a mere 21 months ago. The less equivocal among the Republican Establishment may try to bolster their case by pointing to the fact that Walker himself is gay."

One of the finest and sound conclusions Judge Walker ruled on is that constitutional rights are not subject to popular votes.
Rachael Maddow iterates the points of law here. Well worth watching.

It required Brown vs Board of Education to overturn popular mandates which established and required segregation. That was, in its day, an activist ruling.

As to Judge Walker being an activist, liberal judge that too is turned on its ear by Media Matterswho does a thorough report on the judge:

snip-
"But Walker was nominated by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and has been praised by Republican lawmakers."

Additionally, Judge Walker won overwhelming support from all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee when he was nominated for the bench.
"Walker was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 1989, on unanimous consent and received commission on November 27, 1989. Walker is one of two federal judges publicly known to be gay." See Wikipedia here.

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Lutherans Welcome Gay Clergy

"On July 25, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America formally accepted seven openly gay pastors who had previously been barred from serving in the ministry, making it the largest Protestant church in the U.S. to admit non-celibate, openly gay clergy. The 4.6 million--member church voted last year to allow gay clergy in monogamous relationships to server. Since then, 1% of its congregations have left the denomination; more are expected to sever ties in the coming months." --TIME, Aug. 9, 2010, pg. 10

Wow. Watch this clip of Chris Wallace having his head handed to him by the conservative lawyer who won Bush V. Gore.

Ted Olson: Same-sex marriage is a conservative value

Timeless classic.

Newt talks about the ruling:

Judge Walker's ruling overturning Prop 8 is an outrageous disrespect for our Constitution and for the majority of people of the United States who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife. In every state of the union from California to Maine to Georgia, where the people have had a chance to vote they've affirmed that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

Some of the comments that have been up on Gingrich's site since last night:

• Newt you cheated on your first wife then dumped her when she was in the hospital with cancer. Later you cheated on your second wife with a 27 year old congressional aide. Maybe you should pipe down about defending marriage.
• No, I want to hear more from the twice-divorced man about how marriage has to be reserved for one man and one woman. I wonder if the two former Mrs. Gingriches would testify as to Newt's reverence for marriage.

Newt Gingrich On Prop 8: More Sanctimony On the Sanctity Of Marriage

From the LA Times Letters section:

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I'm 54 years old. Half a century is more than enough time to get used to the idea that
something is not an option. Which is precisely what made Wednesday so remarkable.

I called home to see if Jaymes had remembered to pick up the water filter from Home Depot.
He answered the phone with the most exuberant "I love you" that I've heard from him in our
six years of partnership. He told me that Proposition 8 had just been declared unconstitutional.

Then he asked me to marry him.

What a surprisingly strange, otherworldly experience.

Later I closed the class I was teaching with the news that I was headed out to celebrate the
Proposition 8 ruling. When one of my students asked, "Are you getting married?" and I replied,
"I was actually proposed to this afternoon," the class burst into a spontaneous wave of applause.

That surprised me a little. And with each student's expression of congratulations — and there
were many —I realized it wasn't marriage per se that was being congratulated. It was the
fracturing of a 54-year-long story of being "less than," of being "other." It was an affirmation
that my relationship deserves equal protection. Wow.
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As seen on: http://www.bartcop.com/

This chart goes here too:

A major same-sex marriage fundraiser hosted by former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman and other Republicans provides one of the sharpest illustrations of how gay rights is becoming a cause among more elite, establishment members of the GOP.
...

"There is a strong conservative case to be made in favor of gay marriage," former McCain campaign manager and fellow same-sex marriage fundraiser Steve Schmidt told the Huffington Post on Tuesday. "Marriage is an institution that strengthens and stabilizes society. It is an institution that has the capacity to bring profound joy and happiness to people and it is a matter of equality and keeping faith of one of the charters of the nation, the right to live your life.

"More and more conservatives are saying that opposition to gay marriage would not be a litmus test for membership in the GOP," Schmidt added. "And more conservatives are making the case that no more do you want big government conservatives in the bedroom than big government liberals telling you how to live your life."

huff post