Posted on 07/09/2014 9:12:23 PM PDT by Steelfish
Judge Rules Colorado's Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional District judge C Scott Crabtree rules 2006 voter approved ban violates state and federal constitutions
A judge in Colorado has struck down the state's gay marriage ban.
District court judge C Scott Crabtree on Wednesday ruled the 2006 voter-approved ban violates the state and federal constitutions. He immediately put his ruling on hold pending an appeal.
Crabtree is the 16th judge to void a state's gay marriage ban since the US supreme court ruled last year that the federal government has to recognize gay marriages in the states.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
My one reservation concerning Section 3 is the following. When the Supreme Court decided against the Mormon practice of polygamy when they decided Reynolds v. United States, 1878, since the 10th Amendment did not apply because Utah was still a territory, not a state, the Court applied English common law which which evidently defined marriage as a one man, one woman union. Given that common law is referenced in the Constitution's 7th Amendment, I think that the federal government should still be bound by that precedent today with respect to federal marriage policy.
Also, note that DOMA Section 2 is reasonably based on Congress's Full Faith and Credit power (Section 1 of Article IV), power delegated by the states to the feds to regulate the effect of one states records in another.
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