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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSlate: "Alabama Supreme Court Throws Tantrum, Defies Federal Judge, Halts Gay Marriages."
By Mark Joseph Stern
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/03/04/alabama_supreme_court_defies_federal_judge_on_gay_marriage.html
On Tuesday night, the Alabama Supreme Court had a humiliating and highly public meltdown. In a 148-page opinion, the justices held that Alabamas gay marriage ban remained validpurporting to overrule a federal judge who recently struck down the ban and ordered probate judges throughout the state to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Only one justice dissented, while another concurred; the other seven joined a bizarre, prolix, occasionally unintelligible opinion that challenges fundamental notions of federal supremacy, constitutional order, and equal protection of the law. It is a gruesome, mangled masterpiece of rambling illogic and venomous vitriol. It is the judicial version of a nervous breakdown, and it deserves to be read in full.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Tuesdays opinion is that, on its face and by its own terms, it simply does not make sense. Certain portions of the opinion blatantly contradict others, while several sections draw conclusions that are contradicted soon after. (This jumble may be due to the fact that the opinion was issued per curiam, meaning it has no single author and was presumably co-written by the seven justices who joined it in full.) Early on, the justices main argument seems to be that marriage equality finds no protection in the U.S. Constitutionand that it is unnatural and aberrant:
SNIP
]And there it is. The pretext drops, the fangs come out: The Alabama Supreme Court has the power to restore its states marriage ban not because Windsor doesnt apply, but because Windsor was wrong. Make no mistake: With Tuesdays opinion, the Alabama justices did not just overrule a federal district judge; they attempted to openly defy the Supreme Court. This is no longer a case about just marriage equality; it is a case about the power to say what the law is. The Alabama Supreme Court wants to claim that power for itself. And its daring the U.S. Supreme Court to call its bluff.
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)You have a rogue State SC that is defying federal law! Book them DANO!
Whiskeytide
(4,463 posts)... Court. Won't happen, but if love to see it.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)Still Sensible
(2,870 posts)Oklahoma... but it can't be as shitty as it is for DUers in Dumbfuckistan Alabama.
bamademo
(2,193 posts)And several of my friends did get married. Meanwhile Guvnah Skeletor wants to raise taxes to adjust a huge deficit but will not allow a lottery. This in spite of the fact that all 4 surrounding states have one.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)The only county in Alabama that still accepts Federal ruling of unconstitutional discrimination.
Of course, they've seen this before.
See you all in Selma Saturday!
pnwmom
(109,021 posts)bamademo
(2,193 posts)I wish we could secede.
William769
(55,148 posts)June cannot get here quick enough!
pnwmom
(109,021 posts)won't be able to bring itself to allow both marriage equality and Obamacare to go forward in the same year. Two big wins for the progressive side.
I have this terrible feeling it will be one or the other . . . .
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)One thing I'd look into would be federal funds that go to Alabama. They don't want to follow federal law? Start cutting off federal money. It will have to be done carefully so as not to dump even more on the poor.
Slow down the money to lawmakers pet projects in oodles of red tape. There is more than one way to skin a cat.