Did Justice Ginsburg inadvertently show how the Supreme Court would rule on same-sex marriages?

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
9/21/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Answer given to student's question in Colorado alludes to how high court may rule

An answer given by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a group of students at the University of Colorado in Boulder is being seen by some analysts as an indication on how the high court will rule on same-sex marriages. The Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex unions, is set to go before the justices shortly.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she couldn't discuss matters that would come to the court, but she added, according to The Associated Press: 'I think it's most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term.'

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Answering questions from students, Ginsburg was queried about the equal protection clause and if the court might consider applying it to sexual orientation. This has been a tried-and-tested argument used in challenges to DOMA, the 1996 federal law that denies various benefits to same-sex couples.

Ginsburg says she couldn't discuss matters that would come to the court, but she added, according to The Associated Press: "I think it's most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term."

Brian Moulton, legal director of Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights says that the justices are scheduled to hear five different challenges to DOMA that have been decided in lower courts.

One of those, Windsor v. U.S. out of New York State, is listed for the court's conference on September 24, when they will have a first look at a range of cases seeking to be heard by the justices this year. Ginsburg's comments appear to reinforce what they were hoping for, Moulton told NBC News.

"I think it's quite likely the court will . take one or more of the DOMA cases," Moulton said. "Beyond that, I think we're all just kind of waiting to see what that's going to look like and when that might happen."

Harvard Law School professor Michael Klarman, who clerked for Ginsburg nearly 30 years ago when she was a DC Circuit judge, said he assumed that the Supreme Court was likely to take the case. He says that her comments make "it seems that much more probable.

" . with a bunch of lower court decisions and this being a pretty important issue, I think most people expected that they would grant review. She didn't say they have granted review and obviously she is not supposed to say anything until its public, but she also has inside knowledge. So, I would say this just increases the likelihood that they'll review the DOMA case," Klarman said. Klarman is also the author of the book, "From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage."

Klarman said opposing sides on the bench, such as liberal justices who support same-sex marriage and conservatives who opposed federal intervention into states' rights, potentially could come together on the issue.

"I think it's actually a pretty easy case for them to some extent that's reflected in the lower court decisions, where even judges who were appointed by Republican presidents have signed on to invalidating the statute," he said. "So that's probably a factor in granting review as well . if a bunch of the justices think this is a fairly easy constitutional issue to resolve, it might make them more inclined to grant review."

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, same sex marriage, challenges, DOMA, Michael Klarman

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Daniel
7 months ago
2 "tell the..." Homosexuality is not better than any of the words you have used to describe the perversion of God's gift to man. In fact, same-sex marriage/homosexuality might be equivalent to or worse than rape, child molestation, etc. What you need to know is that your discourse too is uncivil, which is my point. One who builds up what is evil by definition is not civil. The destruction of a civilized (i.e. Christian) society is what same-sex marriage leads to and the destruction of the soul is what homo-sexuality leads to. Homosexuality is defined by sex. Heterosexuality is defined by God.
missy
7 months ago
2 tell the truth, the problem with what you're saying is that homosexuality DOES in fact cause harm. Besides all of the physical harm that the media & the activist LGBT community likes to hide, it also causes harm to your eternal soul. If I were on a secular website, I wouldn't be allowed to say that as I would be mocked. But here, on a Catholic one, you need to know the REAL truth. I pray that you & all like-minded people be converted to the REAL Truth.
2 tell the truth
7 months ago
@ Daniel,

Re: "why are homosexual activists, and many who are not activists, uncivil in their discourse and behaviors?"

Let me give you some REAL examples of "uncivil discourse".

The 'right' compare consenting, loving, committed, adult, human same-gender people and their relationships to (and I'm quoting from religious sources here):

"necrophilia"
"beastiality"
"child-molestation"
"rape"
"murder"
"marryin' a rock/bicycle/plant"
"Worse than terrorists" (okay, this last one was from a politician, not necessarily a 'religious' source).

The only 'uncivil' thing I've ever heard from the pro-equality side is that your beliefs (which you are entitled to have, btw, ) are "bigotted".

Most impartial observers would say that when your side calls the pro-equality side these things, that those charges ARE bigotted. They are demonstrably "uncivil discourse and behaviors".

Those comments are solely intended to diminish, demean and debase God's LGBTQ children, to have people see gay folk as non-human. (I'm never sure which party in a same-gender marriage is supposed to be the "rock", the "bicycle" the "plant", the dead person or the "animal".)

Rape, child-molestation and murder cause actual harm. Consenting adult relationships do not.

If those examples of "uncivil" comments were posted here, they would most assuredly violate the guidelines ("we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person").

So I have a proposition: let's BOTH sides be civil, and forego these denigrating comments once and for all. Deal?
Harold Olsen
7 months ago
I'm inclined to believe that when the issue of same sex marriage goes before the Supreme Court, they will vote to accept it. Not because it is right but because it is politically correct. Political correctness is one of the things ruining this country.
Daniel
7 months ago
If the homosexual community thinks same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue, then why are homosexual activists, and many who are not activists, uncivil in their discourse and behaviors? Homosexuals are uncivilized in many, many ways and consequently cannot claim civil rights for what they do.
DLL
7 months ago
This is not a time of sound thinking and good moral judgement or even sound medical advise against GBLT marriage rights demands. When the states and the federal government can become religion for the masses they govern and decide moral issues(basically what is right or wrong behavior),not practical issues about how local,state and federal governments can co-operate to see each others needs,especially economic ones,than anything goes. Government is becoming impractical when it should be logical and practical. Legal entities become fascist ones when matters of morality are ones that they decide. Hate crimes become thought crimes all punishable by law when it comes down to basic moral issues. This happens especially when the Supreme Court Decides moral matters. They finally had to reverse themselves on moral decisions all to many times. Civil rights was about black people having to sit at the back of a bus or not being able to use the same bathroom,restaurants,or motel,hotel accommodations,as white people. They could not drink from the same water fountain as Whites. GBLT DEMANDS are not the same as CIVIL RIGHTS for all people. Marriage is an institution. Family structures are dependent for their success on sound moral teaching. The Catholic Church for instance is a source for teaching sound moral teachings as a simple matter of faith and trust. Those ingredients are essential for sound marriages. Incest,homosexual and lesbian sexual relations,domestic violence are interrelated as sources for the destruction of any conventional legal marriage,as well as significant reasons for the cause for any divorce. That violates the Civil Rights of every American Citizen. The Supreme Court Justices should be well aware of that fact as divorce has become all too common these days and specifically for those reasons that I have mentioned. "As the Family goes,so goes the nation,and so goes the whole world in which we live". quote from John Paul 2. John Paul 2 was in my opinion the greatest Civil Rights leader and writer of our age. His Encyclicals,everyone of them are classics for understanding basic human dignity and respect between all peoples. I wonder if any of our Judges on the Supreme Court,or our President ever read even one of the Blessed Pope's Encyclicals. Liberal and Conservative are 2 terms that have become divisive and not unitive in our so called United States of America. As my 94 year old Dad,a veteran from WW2,says all too frequently to me these days,"The United States have become the UN-TIED States. When have they ever been UNITED? 50 different governments,50 different kinds of taxation,let alone all local governments as well,50 different sets of rules,50 different definitions of basic morality and civil rights." This is why he has come to hate his government,he tells me and who can blame him. America is now the government of any thing goes,morality is undefined by law,law is meaningless, because money talks and the rest of the world seems to be reacting against our country because of it all,as well. As the Beatle song states:"Money can't buy you love"! GBLT marriage as love? We will see! Time will be the test,as it will be a reality. Justice Ginsberg is bought and sold. She has already decided with a soon to be resounding, "YES"! VOTE! FOR ALL GBLT MARRIAGE! THOSE OPPOSED! (Hate and thought crime people) GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL AND DO NOT COLLECT $200.00. It is all a matter of monopoly funding for any given cause or a political election,that decide judicial matters anymore. That is why Democracy is dying in our country.

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