Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyAugust 5th, 2010
We don’t talk much about Stacy Harp. She’s so far out on the end of the lunatic fringe and so motivated by unmasked hatred that she’s pretty much irrelevant – even to the usual band of wackadoodles (think of an unsuccessful Fred Phelps).
But Harp did write something that I know a lot of the less-informed anti-gays are saying. In the midst of one of her “sodomite”-laden rants, she opined:
So what are people saying? Well, as you can imagine, many in the Church are upset, but ya know what, it doesn’t matter because only one in four Christians actually take the time to vote in elections. If the Church – you know the people in the Church who say they are followers of Christ Jesus – would get off their fat rumps, then this situation would be different because who we put in office, influences who becomes a judge.
It’s a common rant among anti-gay activists that any jurist who see the word “equal” in the constitution and thinks it applies to gay people is a liberal activist judge. They think that we need to elect politicians who will appoint judges that do what they want, not what the constitution says.
The problem?
Judge Vaughn Walker’s first appointment by Ronald Reagan was blocked because he was thought to be anti-gay. Eventually he was put on the bench by George Bush, Sr.
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a mcewen
August 5th, 2010
Dag. She don’t like us at all.
L. Junius Brutus
August 5th, 2010
It’s a real shame that one can’t really get an objective analysis of the opinion. I want to know how strong it is. But proponents unanimously praise it, while opponents call it “embarrassingly bad”. It could be that one of the two is right, or the opinion may just be mediocre, neither very good, nor very bad.
Lindoro Almaviva
August 5th, 2010
Details that are best forgotten or ignored on that side of the lunatic fringe.
DN
August 5th, 2010
I have to disagree with you, Brutus… While I see your point that the news analysis is one-sided, the ruling is all over the place now and anyone who wants to can read it for himself.
Having read the ruling, I think the news reporting on it *should* be one-sided simply because the other side didn’t bother to show up. The social conservatives who are up in arms right now aren’t upset because their team lost, but instead are upset that Walker decided that they shouldn’t win by default.
Timothy Kincaid
August 5th, 2010
Brutus,
I think it is – purely from a stylistic point of view – the most detailed ruling I’ve read.
The judge made determinations of fact. But he didn’t just say what the plaintiffs argued and that he agreed, but he listed the exact witnesses and the evidence they provided. In very exacting detail. For 138 pages.
He found the witness for the defendants to be of no credible value.
Further, he found violation of both Due Process and of Equal Protections.
He ruled that orientation is entitled to strict scrutiny, but judged based on rational basis. He found that this violates both sex and sexual orientation protections.
In other words, for this to be overturned, the court will have to find that:
1) the facts are other than he found
2) that strict scrutiny is not the right standard (which would seem to contradict Lawrence)
3) that there was a rational basis for discrimination
4) that the equal protections clause does not protect either sex or sexual orientation marriage restrictions
5) that due process does not protect either sex or sexual orientation marriage restrictions
and do it all without any credible testimony.
A very very difficult task. Especially since it is believed that he wrote the ruling with Justice Kennedy (the 5th judge) in mind.
Speaking only of the structure of the ruling – not the merit of its decisions – this is a super-duper strong document.
Does that help?
Scott
August 5th, 2010
God is that nutball still around? I’ve ignored her for so long I totally forgot she even existed.
I think Jim should repost his phone recordings of her.
L. Junius Brutus
August 6th, 2010
DN: I’m not saying that the news coverage is one-sided, but that the commentary on the quality of the opinion is. An objective analysis is hard to find.
Timothy: Well, Roberts could just rule on the legal matter, and simply ignore all the facts – as initially, the Prop. 8-supporters claimed that fact-finding was not necessary all. Furthermore, courts have generally rejected the idea that gay marriage bans discriminate on the basis of sex, since the victims are not either men or women, but both men and women who are gay or bisexual. Hopefully, the arguments that he did make will be arguments that will appeal to Kennedy. The most worrying aspect is that Roberts seems to be very persuasive to Kennedy, more so than Scalia. Well, we can always hope that Scalia will retire – he’s 74.
Priya Lynn
August 6th, 2010
It’s a certainty that some on the U.S. supreme court are going to find all the things that Timothy says will be very difficult to find. It seems more likely than not that the majority on the U.S. supreme court will do so as well.
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