It's a great day for America, thanks to the Roberts Court.

[No Elephants]

Never expected to type those words.

DOMA has been struck down on both state rights and equal protection grounds.

As for California, the SCOTUS decided appellants had no standing to appeal from the decision of the California Court. This means that the decision of the California court stands. That means that same gender marriage is the law of California.


I cannot believe it. The most I hoped for was that DOMA would be struck down on the ground that marriage has always been a matter of state, not federal law.

A great day for equal rights and lovers who wish to marry.

A bad day for bigots and haters.

[No Elephants]

1. more...

First, I should say it's a great day for America thanks to five of the Justices on the Roberts Court.

And I would like to point out to everyone who wanted old people to hurry up and die so young people could endorse gay marriage, Ginsburg, Breyer and Kennedy are appreciably older than Roberts and Alito. Kennedy, the swing vote, of course, will turn 77 next month

Sometimes, the conventional wisdom may be widespread, but wisdom? Not so much.

Link to full text of opinion http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/defense-of-marriage-act-ruling_n_3454858.html?1372256026&utm_hp_ref=politics

[No Elephants]

2. still more....

Link to full text of Prop 8 opinion

http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/190155/complete-text-of-supreme-courts-decision-on-californias-proposition-8/

Okay, now you are on your own. I have to do some chores so I can read the opinions.

[Enthusiast]

3. "A bad day for bigots and haters."

Not to worry. They got their big prize - the Voting Rights Act.

[formercia]

4. 2014

is what it's all about.

[No Elephants]

5. Let's see if the Do Nothing Congress can fix that. Cantor and Agent Orange Boehner

have both come out in favor of (gasp!) voting.

The Republican Party knows it has to court (no pun intended) minorities (or appear to court) or die.

So, we'll see.

And, if not, Democrats can, IF THEY WISH, counter vote caging on the local level.

Also, there has been a law on the books since the 1800s that allows people, especially people of color, to sue state governments over discrimination in any way, shape or form. It's the law used by Rodney King, if you remember that incident.

And, for minorities of color, there is definitely Equal Rights protection and 15th amendment protection.

so, yeah, it was a crappy decision and very probably itself unconstitutional in that it violated separation of powers. At the same time, the Voting Rights Act was by far not the only way to make sure everyone votes.

But members of the GLBT community had zero rights against DOMA.

[Enthusiast]

6. But in a practical sense many

voters will be disenfranchised by the ruling. A lawsuit after the fact won't reverse the results of an election.

[No Elephants]

7. Doesn't have to be after the fact. Could be injunctive relief.

Or, Democrats could hunt up even one person who has been denied the vote and sue right now for big damages. In fact, they could have done so years ago.

And, as I said, there are practical, on the ground ways to combat this stuff, too.

Republicans allegedly send out letters, esp. to minority neighborhoods, telling people that they may be arrested if they show up at the polls and make robo calls giving wrong dates, polling places, etc. The voting rights act never stops that. Most often Democrats do little to nothing to combat that. (Why?) If they care, they could get busy with PSAs and their own letters, poll watchers, etc.

Republicans also supposedly tie up phone lines and crash websites with overuse, which Democrats could also prevent.

Democrats could also be out in neighborhoods, making sure people have valid ID. These ID laws have been going into effect for a while now and zero effort has been made

BTW, the voting rights act hasn't prevented disenfranchisement in a practical sense, simply because the necessary on the ground work isn't done.

And I wonder how many we'll never be able to count were disenfranchised when the Democrats ran to abolish ACORN? Or when they refused to pass new voting laws for all of us, when they got into office?

I realize that this is not about Democrats vs Republicans. Each of us has an interest in voting. However, if stolen and caged votes were as common as Democrats say and they make millions, literally, if they get elected, why havent they been busy enacting legislaton with toughtest penalties and other provisions for interfering with the vote.

Something in the scenario Demorats portray is off. I have no idea exactly what it is off, but their tale doesn't hang together when you compare it with their actions.