SCOTUS and gay rights #2

Some highlights from todays SCOTUS hearing on the California Prop 8 case:

1.  The justices' line of questioning suggest that they will decide this case narrowly to apply only to California, with Justice Kennedy voting with the four liberals.   That is, it is unlikely to be a sweeping decision that will overturn bans in all states.  However, if they decide that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the case -- thus letting the lower court decision stand that overturns Prop8 -- it might be more than a 5-4 decision.

2.  Mr. Cooper, the lawyer for the Prop 8 proponents offered no evidence at all that same-sex marriage would harm anyone.   The best he could do was to say we don't have the evidence yet to know whether it will cause harm, either to the institution to marriage or to children of such a marriage, and therefore we should wait.

3.  But that argument falls on its face, given that California already grants all the rights of marriage, including adoption rights, to same-sex couples.  And Justice Kennedy made an eloquent point, saying that 40,000 children in California are now living with same sex parents -- and they are asking for their parents' union to be recognized as marriage.   "There voices should carry weight, don't you think?" he asked.  I think, in his own decision, that will weigh heavily.

4.  Mr. Cooper also made the ludicrous attempt to argue against gay marriage on two grounds:    (1)  that marriage is for procreation, which Justice Kagan demolished by pointing out that if a man and a woman marry, and both are over the age of 55, there are not likely to be any children;   (2)  that marriage involves a commitment to fidelity.   Again Justice Kagan interjected, "where does it say that?"

As Rachel Maddow said on her show tonight:   the really important thing about today is what it predicts for the hearings tomorrow on DOMA.   The fact that there was no argument on merit for retaining bans on marriage equality bodes well for overturning DOMA.

Stay tuned.

Ralph