The Supreme Court announced today that April 28th is the date for its hearing on whether the bans on same-sex marriages in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee are constitutional.
These four states are the ones covered by the 6th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in a 2 to 1 decision last November that the bans do not violate the U. S. Constitution. The two judge majority opinion based its ruling on the deference to the people rather than the court as the ones who should decide.
This negative decision differs from all other Circuit Court decisions on gay marriage bans, thus setting up the conflict that SCOTUS had been waiting for to take a case.
The ACLU immediately filed for a Supreme Court review of the decision. And today, the Department of Justice filed its amicus brief, stating the opinion of the Justice Department lawyers that such bans are "incompatible with the Constitution" because they "exclude a
long-mistreated class of human beings from a legal and social status of
tremendous import."
Wow. We have come a long way in official recognition. And the change in public opinion is equally astonishing. In the latest poll, only 1/3rd of the American people stated a disapproval of marriage equality.
Ralph
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