Federal judge throws out California gay marriage banBy John Byrne
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 -- 4:56 pm
UPDATE: Right wing groups slam 'tyrannical, abusive' California gay marriage ruling
AFA: Judge should have recused himself because he's gayConservative groups across the United States wasted no time Wednesday condemning a California federal judge's ruling that the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich called the decision "an outrageous disrespect for our Constitution" and used the opportunity to take aim at Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, whose nomination is being voted on by the Senate on Thursday.
"Congress now has the responsibility to act immediately to reaffirm marriage as a union of one man and one woman as our national policy," Gingrich said in a statement. "Today’s notorious decision also underscores the importance of the Senate vote tomorrow on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court because judges who oppose the American people are a growing threat to our society.”In his ruling, US District Judge Vaughn Walker said, "The evidence shows that Prop. 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution, the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples. ... Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians and because Prop. 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes the Prop. 8 is unconstitutional.”
The American Family Association responded by saying that Judge Walker should have recused himself because he is reportedly gay.
“His situation is no different than a judge who owns a porn studio being asked to rule on an anti-pornography statute," AFA President Tim Wildmon said in a statement emailed to media. "He’d have to recuse himself on conflict of interest grounds, and Judge Walker should have done that."
(No word yet on whether the AFA would have requested that a straight, married judge also recuse himself on the same grounds.)
Wildmon described the ruling as “a tyrannical, abusive and utterly unconstitutional display of judicial arrogance. Judge Walker has turned ‘We the People’ into ‘I the Judge.’"In a statement to the press Wednesday, the Mormon church, which is considered to have been the most powerful force pushing for the passage of Proposition 8 during the 2008 elections, took a much subdued tone.
"There is no doubt that today's ruling will add to the marriage debate in this country and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion," church spokeswoman Kim Farah said, as quoted at the Associated Press.In its statement, the National Organization for Marriage attacked the lawyers who fought against Prop 8 as "egomaniacal" and promised that the overruling of California's gay marriage ban would be "temporary."
"For the past 20 years, gay marriage groups have fought to avoid cases filed in federal court for one good reason - they will eventually lose," NOM stated. "But these groups do not have control of the Schwarzenegger v. Perry case, which is being litigated by two egomaniacal lawyers (Ted Olson and David Boies). So while they congratulate themselves over their victory before their home-town judge today, let's not lose sight of the fact that this case is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, where the right of states to define marriage as being between one man and one woman will be affirmed."ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS BELOW...
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Link:
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0804/breaking-court-throws-california-gay-marriage-ban/:rofl:
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