Posted on 11/18/2009 1:06:14 PM PST by Steelfish
Judge Orders Compensation For Gay Couple Denied Benefits November 18, 2009
A federal judge today ordered compensation for a Los Angeles couple denied spousal benefits by the federal government because they are gay men.
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt deemed the denial of healthcare and other benefits to the spouse of federal public defender Brad Levenson to be a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of due process and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is prohibited by California state law.
Levenson married his longtime partner, Tony Sears, on July 12, 2008, during the five-month period when same-sex marriage was legal in California. A ballot measure, Proposition 8, was passed a year ago defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Reinhardt, who is the federal judge responsible for resolving employee disputes in the Federal Public Defenders office within the 9th Circuit, had earlier ordered the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to process Levenson's application for spousal benefits for Sears.
The federal government's Office of Personnel Management stepped in to derail the enrollment, however, citing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that prohibits the recognition of same-sex marriage for the purpose of federal benefits or programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Isn’t this ruling by the same judge that is most often overturned by the Supreme Court?
Do they send all of the mentally handicapped Judges to the 9th District.
I thought they were dead?
But that's normal for him. He thinks he is the Constitution.
The Constitution does not recognize gay marriage. How come this judge talks about fairness when one citizen pays over 10 of their income to the king and one pays nothing.
How come that fairness is not judged
Friends with Benefits.
The robed one’s ruling will be reversed in 3, 2, 1...
Told me all I need to know.
So, this judge is declaring that STATE LAW trumps Federal law??
This could come back to haunt him!
9th
say no more.
The Loony Tune 9th Circuit Court of Appeals strikes again!
The ninth circuit is the most overturned circuit by SCOTUS and it wouldn't surprise me if this judge is. He's so much of a liberal commie he makes some liberals blush.
The 9th Circus will never die and will always attract the freakshow cases...just like hookers and herpes.
“U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt deemed the denial of healthcare and other benefits to the spouse of federal public defender Brad Levenson to be a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation”
What a load of bunk! First of all, the due process claim, like most all due process claims, is no doubt based on “substantive due process,” which is a figment of people’s overactive imaginations. But more importantly, there can be no discrimination on the basis of orientation for the simple and obvious reason these men have the exact same rights of heterosexual single men. The law treats all single people the same.
This judge was just overturned for the THIRD time by the SCOTUS on the SAME death penalty case.
“I thought they were dead?”
No, that was Snake Pliskin, in “Escape from New York”.
Militant
Michael Savage dubbed it “The Ninth Jerk-it Court of Schlemiels”.
As Ari says: “Hug it out, Bitches!”
Judge’s Wife is former Chair of ACLU!
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