Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court
Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court
Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#1
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:43pm
The next round of the game is on.
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ADVOCATE.COM
May 26, 2009
Prop. 8 Challenge Filed in Federal Court
By Andrew Harmon
In a bold move that takes a new approach to achieving marriage equality, two attorneys who argued opposing sides of the 2000 Bush v. Gore lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court, The Advocate has learned.
Theodore B. Olson, the U.S. solicitor general from 2001 to 2004 under President George W. Bush, and David Boies, a high-profile trial lawyer who argued on behalf of former vice president Al Gore, filed the suit May 22 in U.S. district court on behalf of two California gay couples. 
The attorneys argue that relegating same-sex couples to domestic partnerships instead of granting them full marriage rights is a violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Olson said he was contacted several months ago by representatives of an association called the American Foundation for Equal Rights about his willingness to represent the two couples named in the suit.
?For a long time I?ve personally felt that we are doing a grave injustice for people throughout this country by denying equality to gay and lesbian individuals,? Olson said in an interview with The Advocate. ?The individuals that we represent and will be representing in this case feel they?re being denied their rights. And they?re entitled to have a court vindicate those rights.?
When pressed about his service with the Bush administration, which in 2004 endorsed an amendment to the U.S. constitution that would prohibit same-sex marriage, Olson said he was personally against the amendment at the time, though he made no public statements on the matter.
As for the timing of the suit, Olson said that recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court ?make it clear that individuals are entitled to be treated equally under the Constitution. I?m reasonably confident that this is the right time for these [injustices] to be vindicated.?
Olson, Boies, and other attorneys working on the suit are being compensated by the American Foundation for Equal Rights, Olson said his law firm and others also are contributing resources pro bono. As of press time, no website could be found for the newly formed organization. Olson and his representatives declined to specify who was funding the campaign.
The plaintiffs in the suit are Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley, Calif., and Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo of Burbank, Calif. Perry is executive director of First 5 California, a state health and education agency.
Prop. 8 Challenge Filed in Federal Court
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#2
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:46pm
This is going to be fascinating to watch!
Such an important case.
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#2
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:53pmSo, if successful, the impact would change the entire country, and not just California, right? I looked at Justice Kennedy's bio on wiki, and he seems supportive of gay rights. He's usually the swing vote in the 5-4 decisions.
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#3
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:54pm
Very controversial. Many gay activists are deciding the court cases carry too much risk of failure and charges of "judicial activism" and want to concentrate instead on legislative initiatives.
But court cases take on a life of their own. They can't be stopped by people who call themselves "gay leaders."
This one fascinates me because the two lawyers are SO brilliant.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#4
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:55pmI'm still sore from protesting last night, but this sounds great!
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#5
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:57pmWhen Republicans & Conservatives like Olson, Megan McCain, and Steve Schmidt start getting on board, it's a very, very good thing.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#6
Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:59pmAll, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. ~Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#7
Posted: 5/27/09 at 3:02pm
Yes, John.
That quote has been used to death on this.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/03
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#8
Posted: 5/27/09 at 9:19pm
Here's today's press conference. It's about 30 minutes long, and if you're interested in the subject, it's worth watching. I think.
Press Conference
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#9
Posted: 5/28/09 at 8:15am
Many of the gay groups (who, some could argue haven't done the best job moving this issue forward) have come together to say this court case is potentially misguided.
Frankly, I think they're embarrassed, and frankly, I would be if I were in their shoes. I'm torn.
This are the groups against the lawsuit:
LGBT Organizations Warn that Lawsuits Could Set Back Progress on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#10
Posted: 5/28/09 at 10:52am
I feel like you can't support this case if you have maintained all along that baby steps were the way to go.
The tone of this post is Baby Stepin Fetchit. Filtered by Tone-A-TronTM
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#11
Posted: 5/28/09 at 10:56amBaby Stepin Fetchit = genius
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#12
Posted: 5/28/09 at 10:58amOh. For. Crap's. Sake. There, I said it.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#13
Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:09am
"Many of the gay groups (who, some could argue haven't done the best job moving this issue forward) have come together to say this court case is potentially misguided. "
Frankly its an outrage its taken this long. Those groups have held back binational couples as well. DOMA makes marriage federal and Bush actually tried to amend the constitution which I wish he would have. That would have thrust this issue into the spotlight. For lack of a better word these groups ****foot around the real issue.
This is a Federal issue not a state one. Some of those gay groups are in the business of being in business and once this is legal they will no longer be in business. We need a ruling that states you cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender. This is the civil rights issue of the day. It's all in the 14th Amendment already.
These damn state-by-state decisions are destroying any chance we have of true change. See Loving v. Virginia if you want to see how this will eventually play out. State marriage is nothing but a red-herring and confuses the true issue. It solves absolutely nothing because marriage is federal.
There is no doubt we should be suspicious but we have a window. These men will make history if this case is even heard.
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#14
Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:26am
Even if this fails (which I suspect it might), I still am in support of it. I've always maintained it IS a federal issue, and that begging state by state just sacrifices everyone's dignity.
The tone of this post is Sincere. Filtered by Tone-A-TronTM
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#15
Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:39am
And this idea that gay rights groups are cool with "letting the people" decide is utter insanity. Simple majorities as made clear with Prop 8 can amend state constitutions to deny in alienable rights.
If California can't pass gay marriage then what does that say about relying on the general public to allow access to equal protection?
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#16
Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:44am
There are many aspects to this that are fascinating, from the celebrity of the lawyers involved (which may be bad for us or good for us) to the near unanimity of the gay groups and ACLU against them.
I'm just glad attention is being paid. I can't believe in the space of a few short months, I've gone form thinking this would never happen in my lifetime to wondering HOW it will happen in my my lifetime.
If it does happen on the federal level not the state, you can be sure gay marriage will be enshrined, like abortion, as a battle between left and right.
Until the younger generation, for whom it seems to be self-evident right, completely take over.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/04
re: Prop 8 Challenge FILED in Federal Court#17
Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:50am
I think we all need to calm down and get to the real issue at hand: THE REMOVAL OF THE NIGHTMARE SECTION FROM THE BALLET.
Had that section not been removed, I think we all would be in a very different position right now.
propeller heads challeged by marriage#18
Posted: 5/28/09 at 12:11pmi think mms2 says what we were all thinking and i for one thank him for his eloquence.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
propeller heads challeged by marriage#19
Posted: 5/28/09 at 12:21pm
I agree. One might say that Arthur Laurents, then, is to blame for all of this. He just likes to boink chorus boys, he doesn't want to marry them.
And I think that it's going to be a contentious Roe v Wade issue till the end of time, regardless of how we get there. Look at the California boomerang situation. Are they just going to keep putting it to vote in perpetuity?
The tone of this post is Toned. Filtered by Tone-A-TronTM
propeller heads challeged by marriage#20
Posted: 5/28/09 at 12:24pmclearly the federal gov't will have to step in and ban boomerangs even if it does piss off the aussies. what are they gonna do? close all the outback steakhouses? ya think we can't make our own bloomin' onions, ya joeys?
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/04
propeller heads challeged by marriage#21
Posted: 5/28/09 at 12:30pm
Can someone please post how the choreography was 'dumbed down' for the current revival? It was written by a former dancer who has performed in West Side Story.
There may be some on the board who have not read it yet. Now is the time. Take action. Don't let anymore choreography be dumbed down.
When we dumb down choreography, we dumb down the audience. Then they do dumb things like pass proposition 8.
propeller heads challeged by marriage#22
Posted: 5/28/09 at 12:43pm
I feel like there really ought to be another "Oh for crap's sake."
This is my new favorite thread.
The tone of this post is Shrimpin' on the Barbie. Filtered by Tone-A-TronTM
propeller heads challeged by marriage#23
Posted: 5/28/09 at 1:36pmLadies and gentleman, I do believe we've been threadjacked!
propeller heads challeged by marriage#24
Posted: 5/28/09 at 2:49pmCalifornia is clearly biased against Dolly Parton.
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