Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Rules 5-4 Gay Marriage Is a Constitutional Right, Bans Struck Down
Townhall.com ^ | June 26, 2015 | Katie Pavlich

Posted on 06/26/2015 7:53:39 AM PDT by Kaslin

The Supreme Court has struck down state bans on gay marriage and has ruled 5-4 same sex marriage is a constitutional right. Same sex couples can now marry in all 50 states and states. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion and Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas.

From the opinion

Held: The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.

(4) The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. Same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. The State laws challenged by the petitioners in these cases are held invalid to the extent they exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples.

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people be come something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right," Kennedy wrote in the opinion.

"The ancient origins of marriage confirm its centrality, but it has not stood in isolation from developments in law and society. The history of marriage is one of both continuity and change. That institution—even as confined to opposite-sex relations—has evolved over time," Kennedy wrote. "Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, no State shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The fundamental liberties protected by this Clause include most of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. See Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 145, 147–149 (1968). In addition these liberties extend to certain personal choices central to individual dignity and autonomy, including intimate choices that define personal identity and beliefs."

"This analysis compels the conclusion that same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry. The four principles and traditions to be discussed demonstrate that the reasons marriage is fundamental under the Constitution apply with equal force to same-sex couples. A first premise of the Court’s relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy," Kennedy continued. "Excluding same-sex couples from marriage thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry. Without the recognition, stability, and predictability marriage offers, their children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser. They also suffer the significant material costs of being raised by unmarried parents, relegated through no fault of their own to a more difficult and uncertain family life. The marriage laws at issue here thus harm and humiliate the children of same-sex couples."

The question that now remains is how the Supreme Court will balance religious freedom, which is protected under the First Amendment, with this ruling on future cases. Kennedy touched on this point in his opinion. 

"Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered. The same is true of those who oppose same-sex marriage for other reasons. In turn, those who believe allowing same-sex marriage is proper or indeed essential, whether as a matter of religious conviction or secular belief, may engage those who disagree with their view in an open and searching debate. The Constitution, however, does not permit the State to bar same-sex couples from marriage on the same terms as accorded to couples of the opposite sex," he said. 

The dissent from Roberts, Scalia and Thomas is searing, much like Scalia's dissent from yesterday on the Obamacare subsidy ruling. 


More to follow...

This post has been updated with additional information.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: 14thamendment; godsinblackdresses; homosexualagenda; judicialtyranny; makingitup; ssm
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-107 next last
To: FreedomStar3028

BTTT


81 posted on 06/26/2015 8:43:28 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: cld51860

Precious metals are worth collecting, and lead could become the most precious of all.


82 posted on 06/26/2015 8:44:12 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: ExCTCitizen

A 17 year old is almost an adult. Now what about a 50 year old marrying a nine year old girl (referring to Mohammed and 9 year old Aesha or whatever her name was


83 posted on 06/26/2015 8:48:21 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Not quite. This is the stance of the SCOTUS majority:

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;

The majority ruling is that if a State officially licenses something, another State cannot fail to recognize it.

84 posted on 06/26/2015 8:48:56 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Petrosius

exactly.


85 posted on 06/26/2015 8:49:42 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

SCOTUS has no standing - they cannot make this decision. Marriage was ordained by God as being between a man and a woman long before governments were instituted among men.


86 posted on 06/26/2015 8:50:40 AM PDT by dware (Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: longtermmemmory

Perhaps if they are both fags


87 posted on 06/26/2015 8:51:50 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Wolfie

Be Prepared to Loose Your Freedom of Speech for the Thought Police are coming to enforce Gay Marriage.


88 posted on 06/26/2015 8:55:15 AM PDT by CptnObvious
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Wolfie

Be Prepared to Loose Your Freedom of Assembly, for the Politically Correct Police will persecute the Churches.


89 posted on 06/26/2015 8:58:04 AM PDT by CptnObvious
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The rebellion will begin in 3...2...1...


90 posted on 06/26/2015 9:03:00 AM PDT by SkyDancer ( I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: longtermmemmory
In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that same-sex marriage must be allowed under the United States Constitution.

“No union is more profound than marriage,” Kennedy wrote, joined by the court’s four more liberal justices.

“From their beginning to their most recent page, the annals of human history reveal the transcendent importance of marriage. The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons, without regard to their station in life. Marriage is sacred to those who live by their religions and offers unique fulfillment to those who find meaning in the secular realm. Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone, for a marriage becomes greater than just the two persons. Rising from the most basic human needs, marriage is essential to our most profound hopes and aspirations,” Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy also wrote the court’s previous three major gay rights cases dating back to 1996. It came on the anniversary of two of those earlier decisions.

Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented, and all wrote separate dissents.

Alito wrote, “Today’s decision usurps the constitutional right of the people to decide whether to keep or alter the traditional understanding of marriage.”

Roberts said gay marriage supporters should celebrate, but don’t celebrate the Constitution.

“If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it,” Roberts wrote.

Scalia wrote his dissent “to call attention to this Court’s threat to American democracy.”

“Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opinion in these cases is the furthest extension in fact—and the furthest extension one can even imagine—of the Court’s claimed power to create “liberties” that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to mention. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves,” Scalia wrote.

Thomas wrote, “Aside from undermining the political processes that protect our liberty, the majority’s decision threatens the religious liberty our Nation has long sought to protect.”

Source

91 posted on 06/26/2015 9:03:28 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
So now we have five Justices who cannot see that same-sex marriage has anthropological basis whatsoever, either.

Given that these five are the part and parcel of the six who couldn't read and understand plain English in yesterday's ruling, I'd say that we have a bunch of really lame people serving on the Court.
92 posted on 06/26/2015 9:05:42 AM PDT by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Old Yeller

You said it


93 posted on 06/26/2015 9:05:49 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: MasonGal

Very well said and I believe we all feel the same way


94 posted on 06/26/2015 9:08:13 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Faggots have the right to marry between one man and one woman. Faggots wants to re-write “rights”. Now they can instill polygamy, marriage of an animal, etc.

The court is useless. We need to ban the court.


95 posted on 06/26/2015 9:30:51 AM PDT by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wolfie; Lurker
I believe that even anti-Second Amendment states recognize:

1.) CPL for certain classes of people (off duty policemen, for example), but not for others (the rest of us).

Therefore, this ruling should apply to out of state CPL.

Keep in mind that the Second Amendment is an enumerated right (whereas same-sex marriage is not).

96 posted on 06/26/2015 9:30:53 AM PDT by sima_yi ( Reporting live from the far North)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: FreedomStar3028

“Or they will take crosses down across America because “the cross is a symbol of hate.””

There is the end goal.


97 posted on 06/26/2015 9:32:19 AM PDT by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

In Massachusetts, you can be married at 12 with parental approval, if you are a female, so some pedophiles will say it is unlawful if he can’t marry a 12 year old boy. That the next court issue.


98 posted on 06/26/2015 9:45:08 AM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
“If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it,” Roberts wrote.

What a cryptic remark.

99 posted on 06/26/2015 9:48:36 AM PDT by Oratam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Mohammad’s bride’s name was VICTIM.


100 posted on 06/26/2015 10:13:17 AM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-107 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson