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发帖数: 19713 | 1 Justice Kennedy Questions California Same-Sex Marriage Ban
By Laurie Asseo & Greg Stohr - Mar 26, 2013 8:15 AM PT
A pivotal justice questioned California’s ban on same-sex marriage as the U
.S. Supreme Court began a historic argument that could lead to gay weddings
nationwide.
During early questioning in the hour-long argument, Justice Anthony Kennedy
suggested that children of same-sex couples suffer “immediate legal injury
” from California’s ban.
“They want their parents to have full recognition and status,” Kennedy
said. “The voice of those children” is important, he said.
GRAPHIC:Supreme Court Weighs Same-Sex Marriage
The California case has the potential to produce the court’s biggest civil
rights ruling in decades. The argument comes as public support for gay
marriage hits record levels. Nine states and the District of Columbia now
let gay couples marry.
The high court, which will rule by June, has a spectrum of options. It could
reinstate California’s ban and leave each state to make its own decision
about letting gays marry. It could issue a narrow ruling that would create a
right to same- sex marriage in California and perhaps a handful of other
states. Or it could announce a constitutional right to gay marriage
nationwide.
Attorney Charles J. Cooper, representing the proponents of the ban, said
attitudes on gay marriage are changing rapidly, and he urged the justices to
let that debate continue on the state level instead of declaring a broad
right to gay marriage.
‘Considerable Disagreement’
Justice Antonin Scalia said there is “considerable disagreement” over the
effects on children of having same-sex parents.
“Do you know the answer to that, whether it harms or helps the child?”
Scalia said, suggesting it would be premature for the court to set a
nationwide rule. “I take no position on whether it’s harmful or not.”
The case is the first of two gay-marriage arguments this week for the court,
which tomorrow will take up the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, known as
DOMA. That law defines marriage as a heterosexual institution, barring
legally married gay couples from claiming the federal benefits available to
other married couples.
California voters approved the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage in 2008.
The ballot initiative reversed a decision by the California Supreme Court,
which five months earlier had said the state constitution guaranteed the
right to gay marriage.
Narrow Ruling
A federal appeals court issued a narrow ruling with limited applicability
beyond California’s borders. The San Francisco- based 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals said Proposition 8 violated the constitutional guarantee of
equal protection by stripping same-sex couples of a right they once had --
and that heterosexual couples would continue to possess.
The justices are also considering a procedural question affecting whether
they have the legal power to rule on Proposition 8 itself. The issue is
whether the supporters of Proposition 8 have “standing” to defend it.
California Governor Jerry Brown, then the attorney general, decided after
the measure was approved to oppose it in court.
The case is Hollingsworth v. Perry, 12-144.
To contact the reporters on this story: Laurie Asseo in Washington at
l*****[email protected]; Greg Stohr in Washington at g****[email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at
s*******[email protected] |
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