In the aftermath of United States v. Windsor, the Obama administration is adopting a generous position on the availability of federal benefits to married same-sex couples, as co-blogger Will Baude pointed out yesterday in a post on the IRS ruling regarding their federal tax status. So far, in contrast to their almost open resistance to Lawrence […]
Author Archive | Dale Carpenter
Ninth Circuit Upholds “Gay Conversion” Ban
By Dale Carpenter on August 29, 2013 5:15 pm in Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech, Sexual Orientation
A unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit has upheld California’s ban on efforts by licensed mental health professionals to change the sexual orientation of minors, a practice often called gay conversion therapy because it’s sought by parents anxious to make their gay kids straight. The opinion in Pickup v. Brown was written by Judge Susan Graber and […]
New Mexico Photographer Loses Discrimination Case
By Dale Carpenter on August 22, 2013 5:16 pm in Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Sexual Orientation
In Elane Photography v. Willock, the New Mexico state supreme court has decided to reject a professional photographer’s statutory and constitutional claims that she could not be required to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony. Filed under a state law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation in “public accommodations” (which nowadays is often defined to include […]
Marriage in Minnesota
Today, along with thousands of others who made it possible, I’ll be at Governor Dayton’s signing of the bill extending marriage to same-sex couples in Minnesota starting August 1. Obviously, this is the culmination of years of effort, but especially the hard work we’ve done since a constitutional amendment was first placed on the election ballot in […]
Minnesota Senate Votes on Marriage Today
At Noon Central time, the Minnesota Senate will begin debate on a bill extending marriage to same-sex couples. The state house of representatives approved the bill last Thursday, on a vote of 75-59. If the bill passes the senate, it goes on to Governor Mark Dayton, who has pledged to sign it. You can watch […]
Minnesota House to Vote on Marriage Today
At Noon (central time) today, the Minnesota House of Representatives will begin debating a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. The bill, as I explain in today’s St. Paul Pioneer Press, is among the most protective of religious freedom in the country. You can watch the debate on the website of the Minnesota house […]
Same-Sex Marriage in Delaware
The state senate in Delaware is having a final debate on a same-sex marriage bill. The audio is available here, just click on “Senate in session.” The Minnesota state house of representatives will vote on a marriage bill on Thursday. UPDATE: The Delaware Senate just passed the bill, 12-9. The state house has already passed the […]
Live: Final Rhode Island Vote for Gay Marriage
You can watch it here. Rhode Island will be the 10th state to recognize same-sex marriage. More to come soon. UPDATE: Watch the R.I. Governor’s signing ceremony here.
Speaking Engagements This Week
By Dale Carpenter on April 21, 2013 4:25 pm in Flagrant Conduct: Lawrence v. Texas, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
On Monday I’ll be speaking before the ACS chapter at Yale Law School on the topic, “What Has Lawrence Meant? Litigation and LGBT Rights on the Tenth Anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas.” The presentation will be in Rm. 129 from 1-2 p.m. On Tuesday I’ll be speaking at Minnesota State University-Mankato on “The Role of […]
The Supreme Court’s Standing Problem (Cont’d)
The scandal goes on. Adam Liptak reports.
The Real Standing Problem in the Marriage Cases
Some commentators mistakenly think a federalism-based approach to the DOMA case will cause a flood of litigation and generate massive legal uncertainty, but that’s not the real chaotic threat at the Court. Orin notes the practice of paying people to stand in line for you to get into the Supreme Court for oral argument in important and highly […]
Three Senses in Which DOMA Implicates Federalism
By Dale Carpenter on March 29, 2013 10:54 am in Equal Protection, Federalism, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
Overnight, it seems, federalism has become a major ground on which the Defense of Marriage Act is being contested. This is surprising because, as we saw Wednesday in the arguments of Roberta Kaplan and the Solicitor General, there were no real advocates for federalism as an issue during the oral argument in United States v. Windsor. No advocates, that […]
Federalism Concerns Dominate the Attack on “Skim Milk” Marriage
At the Supreme Court today, the Defense of Marriage Act took a beating from Justices concerned about federalism. By my count, five Justices expressed deep constitutional concerns with DOMA, and four of these (Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Breyer) expressly cited its intrusion into the traditional state domain of marriage law as a reason. Another, Justice […]
Not there yet
Here’s what I had hoped to be able to post after the oral argument in the Prop 8 case yesterday, but was unable to because I couldn’t get into the site. Yesterday it seemed urgent; today not so much. But here goes: Ten years ago today, I attended the Supreme Court oral argument in Lawrence […]
Federalist Society Symposium on the Marriage Cases
Today the Federalist Society hosts a forum entitled, Same-Sex Marriage: A Variety of Perpectives on United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. There are contributions by John Eastman, Nelson Lund, Ilya Shapiro, and me. My contribution, “Justice Scalie’s Constitutional Case for Gay Marriage,” originally appeared on SCOTUSblog last September.