Free Republic

The question before the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow in Obergefell v. Hodges, dealing with the highly-anticipated same-sex “marriage” challenges, is very simple: Does the U.S. Constitution require same-sex “marriage” in every state in the nation?

Does the United States Constitution require states to allow members of the same sex to marry each other? Does the Constitution require states to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who were legally married in another state? These are the two questions the Supreme Court of the United States will ponder as it listens to oral arguments Tuesday. It seems simple. But the roads that have led to this point have been anything but. After years of legal challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage, many of them successful, as well as voter referendums in which the traditional definition of marriage has...

The Supreme Court on Monday gave new life to a lawsuit challenging ObamaCare’s contraception mandate, striking down a previous ruling in favor of the federal government. An appeals court in Cincinnati will now reconsider the legal challenge from the Catholic groups in Michigan and Tennessee that had sought exemptions from an ObamaCare provision that requires employers to cover birth control for all workers. The justices asked the lower court to reconsider the case in light of last year's landmark ruling on the contraception mandate. That ruling, which was issued last June, decided that the arts-and-crafts retailer, Hobby Lobby, could...

The GOP seems determined to reinforce its reputation as “the stupid party.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other prominent Republicans plan to co-sponsor a piece of legislation introduced by Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson that, as he recently admitted in the Wall Street Journal, would allow Obamacare subsidies issued through federal exchanges to continue for two more years—even if the Supreme Court declares them illegal. This will not only mask the negative consequences of the sloppily-written law, it will antagonize the voters who reinstated the GOP congressional majority last November and provide yet more time for Obamacare to metastasize. Senator...

We are witnessing a homosexual juggernaut that will settle for nothing less than their own interpretation of the relations between the sexes In 1973, the Supreme Court looked into the Constitution, found that it approved of abortion and overruled laws banning it. Other laws have since addressed late term abortions and those resulting from rape or incest, but killing human life in the womb has been lawful since then. . According to the Guttmacher Institute from 1973 through 2011, nearly 53 million legal abortions occurred in the U.S. By dismantling the fundamental traditions and beliefs of a nation piece by...

Crowds hold signs in defense of traditional marriage at the March for Marriage in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Credit: Adelaide Mena/CNA Washington D.C., Apr 25, 2015 / 02:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A diverse crowd of thousands of people from across the U.S. gathered in front of the US Capitol to speak and stand in defense of marriage on Saturday. “We have too long taken for granted the gift of marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky. and President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops told CNA. The Archbishop cautioned that...

April 23, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) - On Saturday, thousands of pro-family Americans are expected to flock to Washington, D.C. for the third annual March for Marriage.Organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), March-related events will begin at noon, with a rally from 12:00-1:00, and then the march itself at 1:00. Participants will gather at the mall in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.  On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments as to whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex "marriage," or if states should be allowed to make their own marriage policy.The will take place...

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says he will respect the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage when it rules. Georgia has a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but the high court is expected to hear arguments on the issue next week. “Federal constitutional issues trump state constitutional issues, " Deal told "A Closer Look" host Denis O'Hayer. "So we will abide by whatever the Supreme Court rules as an interpretation of the United States Constitution.” On Wednesday, State Attorney General Sam Olens said he'll follow the U.S. Supreme Court's order. Deal also spoke about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,...

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases that will likely determine whether same-sex marriage will become a legal nationwide. The justices have rolled four cases together that will allow them to decide two questions: must states recognize other states' gay marriages, and does the Constitution require states to allow same-sex marriage? Some believe the justices have already decided to create that right before hearing the case. But others say the matter is far from decided. On Wednesday, a panel discussion at the Family Research Council was swimming upstream against conventional thought on the issue. That is, it's a...

Full title: Senate GOP leadership wants to restore federal ObamaCare subsidies through 2017 if SCOTUS strikes them down Remember the Halbig case? There’s a part of the ObamaCare statute that says you’re eligible for money from Uncle Sam to pay the premiums on your new health insurance plan provided that you bought your plan on “an exchange established by the State.” The left says that phrase includes the federal exchange; the right says nope, it means only the exchanges established by individual states. The whole point of the subsidies, in theory, was to create a financial incentive for state governments...

Jazz Shaw referenced a case this week we’ve been watching at HotAir since it was argued the first time, on more narrow grounds, at the Supreme Court a couple years ago. The question at the heart of this round of oral arguments on an archaic raisin regulatory regime: Can the government confiscate substantial parts of a farmer’s crops in a bid to keep the prices of that crop stable as part of a long-ago established regulatory structure, without paying the farmer. The Hornes of California disobeyed the government’s orders to give over the literal fruits of their labors and...

The Supreme Court will decide Friday whether to grant review on a case relating to the infamous Wisconsin “John Doe” investigation of conservative groups that supported Governor Scott Walker and his reform of public sector union collective bargaining.The case, O’Keefe v. Chisholm, was filed by Eric O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth after they each received John Doe subpoenas in October 2013, demanding that they turn over all Club records and communications–including all emails, financial materials and donor lists–to prosecutors. Consistent with Wisconsin’s John Doe law, the subpoenas gagged O’Keefe and the Club, prohibiting them from speaking to anyone...

Full title: Judicial Watch, AEF File Amici Brief with Supreme Court Supporting Arizona, Kansas Efforts to Require Proof of Citizenship on Voter Registration Forms ‘Illegal voting at any level can change the outcome of elections. And there is no acceptable amount of fraud.’ (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has joined with the Allied Educational Foundation (AEF) to file an amici curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of Arizona’s and Kansas’ efforts to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to a federal voter registration form ( Kris W. Kobach, et al., v. U. S. Election Assistance...

Stealing is illegal, unless the government is the thief. On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear a case on whether the government can seize a chunk of a business’s product to regulate prices. This is a big one. Like much government mischief, Horne v. USDA has its roots in the Great Depression and federal programs to prop up the price of goods by controlling supply. To create raisin scarcity, the government established a Raisin Administrative Committee that manages the supply of raisins through annual marketing orders. Raisin handlers must set aside a portion of their annual crop, which the feds...

The Supreme Court told the police Tuesday they may not turn routine traffic stops into drug searches using trained dogs. The 6-3 decision ends the increasingly common practice whereby officers stop a car for a traffic violation and then call for a drug-sniffing dog to inspect the vehicle. The justices, both liberal and conservative, agreed that it was an unconstitutional "search and seizure" to hold a motorist in such cases. "Police may not prolong detention of a car and driver beyond the time reasonably required to address the traffic violation," said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking for the court. [snip]...

In oral arguments Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear the government defend its kleptocratic behavior while administering an indefensible law. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 is among the measures by which New Dealers tried and failed to regulate and mandate America back to prosperity. Seventy-eight years later, it is the government's reason for stealing Marvin and Laura Horne's raisins. New Dealers had bushels of theories, including this: In a depression, prices fall, so a recovery will occur when government compels prices to stabilize above where a free market would put them. So FDR's "brains trust" produced "price stabilization"...

... Having had the good fortune to serve beside [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] on [the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court], I can attest that her opinions are always thoroughly considered, always carefully crafted and almost always correct (which is to say we sometimes disagree). That much is apparent for all to see ...

In oral arguments Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear the government defend its kleptocratic behavior while administering an indefensible law. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 is among the measures by which New Dealers tried and failed to regulate and mandate America back to prosperity. Seventy-eight years later, it is the government’s reason for stealing Marvin and Laura Horne’s raisins. New Dealers had bushels of theories, including this: In an economic depression, prices fall, so a recovery will occur when government compels prices to stabilize above where a free market would put them. So Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “brains trust”...

U.S. Supreme Court. Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2015 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Supreme Court has continued its trend of decisions stopping enforcement of a federal contraception mandate against religious employers with moral objections. On April 15, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an order barring the federal government from enforcing the mandate against Catholic Charities affiliates, Catholic schools and social service organizations in the dioceses of Erie and Pittsburgh. “Every time a religious plaintiff has gone to the Supreme Court for protection from the government’s discriminatory mandate the Court has protected them,” Lori Windham, senior counsel for...

There has been no want of “writing on the wall” about the upcoming cases on marriage. Justice Clarence Thomas could not help but remark on the point that a majority of his colleagues had already, and gracelessly, signaled their “intended resolution of that question.” And yet, writers and lawyers on both sides continue to expend their genius in writing briefs for the Court, clinging to the possibility that the words they set down may yet tip the balance. But as the arguments pour forth, the curious asymmetry is that only one side is offering substantive arguments. Justice Kennedy has maintained...