In his column for today, George Will backs the federalism-based equal protection argument against Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act that Ernie Young and Lynn Baker, along with co-Conspirators Randy, Jonathan, Ilya, and I made in an amicus brief filed in United States v. Windsor.: Conservatives who supported DOMA should, after 17 years’ […]
Author Archive | Dale Carpenter
Minnesota House and Senate Committees to Consider SSM Bill on Tuesday
Two committees of the Minnesota legislature, one from each house, will consider legislation tomorrow to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. The first, scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. (Central) is before the state house Civil Law Committee. The committee plans to take testimony until 10 a.m. and may resume consideration of the bill Tuesday […]
A Federalism-Based Equal Protection Argument Against DOMA
By Dale Carpenter on March 1, 2013 2:43 pm in Constitutional Law, Equal Protection, Federalism, Same-Sex Marriage, Supreme Court
Over the past few days, the Court has been treated to an avalanche of briefs submitted by law professors, professional associations, prominent Republicans, and even football players arguing that California’s Proposition 8 and Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act are unconstitutional. Today I’m proud to join three of my co-Conspirators — Jonathan Adler, Randy […]
Speaking this week
I’ll have the pleasure of participating in two debates on SSM this week at student Federalist Society chapters. One will be with Ryan Anderson tomorrow at the University of Nebraska Law School. The second will take place at Creighton University Law School on Tuesday. Please say hi if you see me at either.
Illinois Senate Now Debating SSM Bill
You can watch the live feed now. Happy Valentine’s Day!
U.K. Parliament is Debating Gay Marriage
You can watch it here now. It’s the second of three readings of the proposed law allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Debates Next Week
On Monday, I’ll be arguing the conservative case for same-sex marriage at the Federalist Society chapters of two law schools in Baton Rouge. The first dabte will start at noon at the Southern University Law Center, where my sparring partner will be Judge Duke Welch, a Louisiana appellate court judge. The second debate will be […]
Rhode Island Marriage Debate Now
The state legislature is debating a same-sex marriage bill. It’s almost entirely a debate among Democrats, since the RI legislature is heavily Democratic. Watch the proceedings here. UPDATE: It passed the state house, 51-19. It now moves to the state senate. The governor supports it.
Perry and Windsor as Law School Exam Questions
In light of the Court’s decision to ask for jurisdictional arguments in both cases, Art Leonard considers some intriguing possibilities. They go well beyond a simple 5-4, up-or-down vote on the recognition of gay marriage.
Nice Try
Opponents of same-sex marriage are trying to get the Court to review their recent win against SSM in the district court in Nevada, skipping any consideration of the case in the Ninth Circuit. In their petition for certiorari before judgment, they argue: Of the “marriage” cases now before this Court, this case is optimal for resolving the […]
Gay Marriage in Mexico and Washington State (and perhaps soon in Uruguay)
The Mexican Supreme Court ruled today that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutionally discriminatory. This follows a 2010 pro-SSM ruling that applied only to Mexico City. It’s unclear how broadly this new ruling will apply beyond the Mexican state of Oaxaca, but the news story suggests that individual suits brought in other states will gradually bring […]
“The Most Significant Cases These Nine Justices Have Ever Considered”
By Dale Carpenter on November 30, 2012 12:22 pm in DOMA, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation, Uncategorized
Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSBlog presents the matter succinctly: At their Conference today, the Justices will consider petitions raising federal constitutional issues related to same-sex marriage. These are the most significant cases these nine Justices have ever considered, and probably that they will ever decide. I have never before seen cases that I believed would be discussed […]
Nevada District Court Rejects SSM Claim
On the eve of the Supreme Court’s consideration of some major gay-marriage cases, Nevada District Court Judge Robert Jones has publicly released a decision (dated three days ago) in which he rejected a challenge to Nevada’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. I haven’t closely read all of Sevcik v. Sandoval, but a quick skim suggests it’s […]
The Moment of Victory in Minnesota
For an example of a pure, spontaneous eruption of joy it’s hard to beat the moment we learned that the anti-gay marriage amendment had been defeated in Minnesota. At 1:45 the staff and board of Minnesotans United For All Families, was gathered in a conference room just across from the hall from where thousands had gathered […]
Winning Minnesota
By Dale Carpenter on November 8, 2012 3:06 am in Democracy, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
Most of the post-election attention to the gay-marriage ballot fights has focused on the inspiring wins in Maine, Maryland, and Washington state, where same-sex marriages will now be legal. But equally important in the long-term is what happened in Minnesota on Tuesday. Eighteen months ago, when the state legislature voted to place a ban on same-sex marriages on […]