What does the federal hate crimes law inspired by the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. have to do with an internal dispute among the Amish in which the beards of men and the hair of women were forcibly sheared?
“The scissors used to cut the hair were manufactured in one state and used in another,” explained Edward Bryan, defense lawyer for Amish bishop Samuel Mullet Sr., who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
via Amish prosecuted because scissors ‘crossed state lines’.
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This week in Washington DC, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday March 27, for and against the Defense of Marriage Act 1996 (DOMA) and Proposition 8 in 2 separate cases, before 9 Supreme Court Judges, who will listen to 50 minutes of arguments from both sides and then make a final decision over the coming months.
Tuesday 26th – at 10am – Hollingsworth v Perry, which is the California Marriage Proposition 8 discussion, brought by the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER).
Wednesday 27th – at 10am – Windsor v. United States brought by the ACLU, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP with super lawyer Roberta Kaplan from their New York office leading the arguments.
For more information about Windsor click here
The Gay, & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders group (GLAD), located in Boston, MA, under the direction of Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto, have coordinated the amicus strategy, (meaning sympathisers of the strategy write to support the legal case arguments), for the challenge to DOMA in the Supreme Court.
Essentially the arguments will revolve around the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), which is being challenged in separate individual cases as not standing up to higher scrutiny, and therefore controversial to the principles of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution on equal rights and protection under the law.
The Fifth Amendment has an explicit requirement that the Federal Government not deprive individuals of “life, liberty, or property,” without due process of the law and an implicit guarantee that each person receive equal protection of the laws”.
The challenge appears to have been brought as a result of cases where gay and lesbian individuals have not had the same protection under the law as married heterosexual couples, in the event of death of a partner and their right to inherit their estate.
On Tuesday morning, lawyers will present their arguments challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage for support/opposition of Proposition 8 in the case of Hollingsworth v Perry.
On Wednesday morning lawyers for Windsor v United States will argue before the 9 Supreme Court Justices on the brief:
“Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines the term “marriage” for all purposes under federal law, including the provision of federal benefits, as “only a legal union between one man and one wom- an as husband and wife.” 1 U.S.C. 7. It similarly defines the term “spouse” as “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” Ibid.
The question presented is:
Whether Section 3 of DOMA violates the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws as applied to persons of the same sex who are legally married under the laws of their state.
The Justices final decision is expected in June, though some opinion is expected by their initial private vote this Friday.
GLAD has two other challenges to DOMA, Gill v. OPM and Pedersen v. OPM, which will be held pending a ruling on Windsor.
The Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in the first of two cases on Tuesday. The line began at 4 p.m. on Thursday by paid line stander John Spears. The line formed a full 114 hours in advance, which is even earlier than the line for the Obamacare case, which started about 72 hours before the hearing.
The hearings of oral arguments this week will include California’s Proposition 8, which addresses gay marriage, on Tuesday and the Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday. According to the Supreme Court Hearing List, Proposition 8 is to have about and hour for their arguments and the Defense of Marriage Act Jurisdiction will have 50 minutes and Merits will have an hour for their arguments.
Read More – Huffington Post: Supreme Court Gay Marriage Line Forms Even Earlier Than Obamacare Queue
The Blaze.com reported that the Obama administration on Friday formally urged the Supreme Court to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
In a brief filed Friday evening, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued that DOMA’s section three, which bars married same-sex couples from filing joint federal tax returns and other federal spousal benefits, is unconstitutional:
Section 3 of DOMA violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples. Because this discrimination cannot be justified as substantially furthering any important governmental interest, Section 3 is unconstitutional.
A lone appeals judge bowed down to the Obama administration late Monday and reauthorized the White House’s ability to indefinitely detain American citizens without charge or due process.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that an temporary injunction on section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 must be made permanent, essentially barring the White House from ever enforcing a clause in the NDAA that can let them put any US citizen behind bars indefinitely over mere allegations of terrorist associations. On Monday, the US Justice Department asked for an emergency stay on that order, and hours later US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Raymond Lohier agreed to intervene and place a hold on the injunction.
The stay will remain in effect until at least September 28, when a three-judge appeals court panel is expected to begin addressing the issue.