Kennedy is certainly mindful of state rights in the Windsor decision. But he made himself remarkably clear that state marriage laws were subject to constitutional guarantees.
Subject to certain constitutional guarantees, see, e.g., Loving v. Virginia,
388 U. S. 1, "regulation of domestic relations" is "an area that has long been regarded as a virtually exclusive province of the States," Sosna v. Iowa,
419 U. S. 393, 404.
Windsor v. US
All state laws are subject to constitutional guarantees. That does not imply that same sex marriage is itself a constitutional guarantee.
When a case being cited is about the overturning of state marriage laws that violate those constitutional guarantees i
n a case about defending the constitutional guarantees related to marriage rights...
...that's
exactly what it implies.
There's a reason that 43 of 46 federal courts AND Justice Scalia interpreted the Windsor ruling the same way I did; that the logic of the Windsor court applied to State marriage laws overturns those laws.
No, they really haven't. The interpretation that you are making is that Windsor made it unconstitutional to ban same sex marriage, which is nowhere near the case, and not what the various district and appellate courts have found.
That's not what I've argued. I've argued that the Windsor court reaffirmed that constitutional guarantees trump state marriage laws. And that a ruling on state gay marriage bans consistent with Windsor would follow the same pattern. 43 of 46 federal rulings on the matter have cited Windsor and concluded that applying its logic to state marriage laws would mandate they be overturned.
It would almost certainly be 44 of 46. But Perry v. Brown came out before Windsor did.
The various courts that have ruled against same sex marriage bans have presented a variety of different rationales. Windsor has been a factor in most, in varying degrees, and with divergent interpretations. Yours, however, is novel, and to honest is sheer butchery of the English language.
Its been a factor in virtually all cases that occurred after Windsor did. And why wouldn't it? Its immediately relevant binding precedent. Even the handful of cases in which the federal judiciary ruled against gay marriage (2 of 46 rulings) cited Windsor.
With Scalia in his dissent stating that the court's position on state same sex marriage bans was 'beyond mistaking'.
That position being the right for states ban same sex marriage.
That's not what Scalia found the Windsor court's position was. This is;
In my opinion, however, the view that
this Court will take of state prohibition of same-sex marriage is indicated beyond mistaking by today’s opinion. As I have said, the real rationale of today’s opinion, whatever disappearing trail of its legalistic argle-bargle one chooses to follow, is that DOMA is motivated by “ ‘bare . . . desire to harm’ ” couples in same-sex marriages.
Supra, at 18. How easy it is, indeed how inevitable, to reach the same conclusion with regard to state laws denying same-sex couples marital status.
Justice Scalia in dissent of Windsor v. U.S.
UNITED STATES v. WINDSOR US Law LII Legal Information Institute
Scalia read Windsor and found the same anti-state gay marriage ban view by the court that I did. The same position you insisted was a 'misrepresentation' of the Windsor ruling .Scalia clearly disagrees, as his argument and my own are nearly identical in terms of what position the Windsor court expressed regarding state gay marriage bans. 43 of 46 federal found the same thing.
I'd argue that my interpretation of the Windsor ruling very well represented it. The court didn't decide the constitutionality of state same sex marriage bans in the Windsor ruling. But its logic
Oh, BTW, a dissenting opinion is not a binding precedent.
I never said it was. So that strawman can be tossed aside. Instead, I said this:
Skylar" said:
When both those who agreed with Kennedy's ruling and those that opposed it come to the same conclusion on its meaning......its hard to argue that they're all wrong.
Post 229
Laymen s Closing Arguments on Gay Marriage Page 23 US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum
Are they *all* misrepresenting the Windsor ruling? Because they came to essentially the same conclusions I have.
I'm really starting to wonder if you've actually read it, or if you merely skimmed the cherry picked cliffs notes on your favorite liberal blog. Scalia's dissent was a scathing condemnation of the majority opinion.
You're confusing yourself. I've never said that Scalia *agreed* with the court. I'm saying that Scalia recognized that the court had communicated its position on state same sex marriage bans by the logic it used in the Windsor decision.
Scalia agrees with me on what the Windsor ruling implied. And contradicts you.
Which is my point.
He stated that the court was overriding the right of the people to govern themselves, that the appellant had no standing in the first place, and that the majority intentionally chose to ignore that to produce a propaganda laden opinion filled with insidious emotive language for the purpose of allowing that language to become a weapon to override the state's rightful power ban same sex marriage.
You're making my point for me. This is exactly the position I've attributed to Scalia.
He recognized that the Windsor decision implied what I argue it implies. Scalia and I have largely taken the same position on the court's position against state same sex marriage bans. And how the court will apply that logic of Windsor to overturn them.
Did Scalia 'misrepresent' the ruling too?
So you're saying that it's okay to butcher the Windsor opinion because Kennedy is cool with same sex marriage?
Huh? How can you paraphrase Scalia's dissent where he describes in detail what the Windsor ruling implies.......and then insist its 'butchering the ruling' by recognizing the
exact same thing about what the ruling implies?
I don't understand the thought process that goes into that.....unless you think that Scalia is wrong about what the Windsor court was implying with their decision.
Because he's making much the same argument I am as to what the Windsor decision communicated about the court's position on state same sex marriage bans.
And Kennedy's actions since the Windsor ruling have reaffirmed my argument AND the 43 of 46 federal rulings AND justice Scalia's interpretation of what the Windsor ruling implies. As Kennedy (along with at least 6 other justices) has perfectly preserved every lower court ruling that overturns gay marriage.
Every. Single. Ruling. Without exception.
Likewise, Kennedy (along with at least 6 other justices) have denied every stay request by a state trying to defend same sex marriage.
Every. Single. Stay. Without exception.
That's a pretty clear indication of where the court stands on the matter.
I don't really know what the court will decide come June (that is, what they've already decided and will announce come June), because either way the court will have to break from stare decisis. The current applicable case law gives rise to two somewhat contradictory outcomes. On one hand, the court has explicitly affirmed the power of the states to decide the issue of same sex marriage.
The courts have recognized the State's authority to
affirm same sex marriage. They have yet to rule on the State's authority to
ban same sex marriage. But as Scalia, 43 of 46 federal rulings and Kennedy's actions since have demonstrated.....the court's position on the matter was well communicated.