Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage

She will cut taxes by reducing the number of paper clips used.

 

BTW, I'm guessing all the folks who were outraged by this woman violating the law were equally outraged when Gavin Newsom and the city of San Francisco began granting marriage licenses to gay couples contrary to law.

 

Nice try but you were wrong; California Supreme Court found that Mr. Newsom and the City and County of San Francisco were NOT violating the law because the California Constitution guaranteed gays the right to equal protection of the law. So I'm comfortable being outraged at Kentucky and not at Newsom and SF.

 

Newsome allowed the issuance of marriage licenses in San Francisco based on a belief that laws preventing gay marriage were unconstitutional, providing authority for the issuance of licenses for gay couples.
Court actions were brought to stop the issuance of such licenses and, after ordered to by the California Supreme Court, licenses were no longer issued. A person acted under what he believed to be legal authority, then stopped taking those actions when ordered by a court.

After Obergefell was decided by SCOTUS, a woman performing a clerical duty on behalf of the State is refusing to follow that decision, thereby denying certain citizens a Constitutionally protected right. A person who knows she has no legal authority for her actions does so anyway and refuses to change her actions when ordered to do so by a court.

The two situations are not equivalent and do not require equivalent responses.

 

Having known a few city and county clerks in my life, I think them being elected makes perfect sense.

It makes them responsible to the people and not to the mayor or county executive or whomever hired them.

They have their own offices, their own budgets and their own agendas.

Being elected also makes them harder to get rid of as they have some protections when they make unpopular decisions or enforce aspects of various codes and ordinances.

Sure, that protection can also be a problem when they choose to do things like not follow the law but more times than not, it is a good system.

 

Huh?

What did the California Supreme Court say?

And, what does this mean: "based on a belief that laws preventing gay marriage were unconstitutional, providing authority for the issuance of licenses for gay couples."

What provided authority, the believe that the law was wrong?

Issuing the licenses was contrary to law, was it not?

Aren't we just supposed to follow the law when issuing marriage licenses?

 

I think they're probably right.

 

Go with it, YF -- that Amy never knows what she's talking about when it comes to the law.

 

I'm just trying to understand what she's saying. She may be right, but what she's arguing is unclear to me.

 

The S.F. clerk was not acting in opposition to any ordinance (as I understand it). True, the law didn't provide for same-sex marriages, but it didn't proscribe them either.

The Ky. clerk is acting in opposition to the clear law of the land. Since the S.C. decision, it is against the law to deny "access" to marriage to same-sex couples.

On edit: I was wrong about the S.F. law, at least insofar as Amy (to whom I defer COMPLETELY on all legal matters) describes it. What she is saying is that the S.F. clerk was acting in a manner he believed to be consistent with the law. Further, when the S.F. clerk was apprised of the error of his ways -- through other court actions -- he stopped issuing the licenses.

What Amy's also saying is that the Ky. clerk KNOWS her actions are inconsistent with the law; no clarification is necessary.

 

Hot off the e-mail

Gov. Huckabee to hold "#ImWithKim Liberty Rally" in Kentucky to protest the imprisonment of Kim Davis Tues., Sept. 8

"This is a reckless, appalling, out-of-control decision that undermines the Constitution of the United States and our fundamental right to religious liberty. Having Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubt of the criminalization of Christianity in our country. We must defend religious liberty and never surrender to judicial tyranny," said Gov. Huckabee. "What a world, where Hillary Clinton isn't in jail but Kim Davis is."

 

YankeeFan, when did you start writing for Huckabee?