History Is on My Side, Says Calif. Justice Who Voted Against Gay-Marriage Ban
Carlos Moreno stood alone in May when he dissented from the decision upholding Proposition 8. But the California Supreme Court justice says history will prove him right — that denying gays and lesbians the right to marry is illegal discrimination.
“Someday at some point my dissent will be the majority view in California,” he said during an interview in his San Francisco chambers late Wednesday. “I think that’s where the law is headed.”
“Equal protection is either equal or it’s not,” he added. “It’s not the kind of thing you can chip away at.”
Moreno, one of four justices to back same-sex marriage last year and the sole vote against Prop 8 this year, took time to talk to The Recorder about his votes, his brief moment on the Obama administration’s short list for the nation’s highest court, and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s controversial “wise Latina” comment.
Moreno’s dissent in Strauss v. Horton, 46 Cal.4th 364, came at a touchy time for him. He had been contacted by the Obama administration a week earlier as a possible replacement for retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Since President Obama has officially stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, it could be assumed Moreno’s position on marriage and Prop 8 might be troublesome.
But, Moreno said, Obama’s vetters didn’t ask him how his Prop 8 vote — which wasn’t yet public — would go.
“They just asked if there were any high-profile cases — past or present, including on the trial court — that would be the kind of case that would draw attention.”
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Law.com
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Sotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts
Sen. Charles Grassley had a testy exchange Wednesday with Judge Sonia Sotomayor about the federal government’s authority over marriage law.
During the Iowa Republican’s second turn at questioning the Supreme Court nominee, Grassley referred to a 1972 Supreme Court decision, Baker v. Nelson, in which the justices declined to consider a gay-marriage case. He asked whether she thought federal courts lacked authority to hear civil-rights cases involving marriage.
Sotomayor said the issue is pending in several courts, before Grassley cut her off.
“I thought I was asking a very simple question,” he said.
He ticked off a list of cases Sotomayor had referenced as precedent during her testimony on Tuesday. “You said these are precedents,” Grassley continued, raising his voice. “Now, are you saying to me that Baker v. Nelson is not a precedent?”
“It’s not that I’m attempting not to answer your question, Senator Grassley,” she said.
Grassley interrupted again, “Why are you hedging on this?”
Finally, Sotomayor said it had been since law school that she had reviewed the case, prompting Grassley to move on to another topic.
See Sotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts
The Des Moines Register
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Video: Sotomayor on gay marriage
Sonia Sotomayor was asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham today about how the Full Faith and Credit Clause will affect “who should get married and what the boundaries are for marriage.”
Then Sen. John Cornyn jumped in: “If the Supreme Court in the next few years holds that there is a constitutional …
Tags: Boundaries, Faith, Full Faith And Credit, Full Faith And Credit Clause, gay marriage, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, marriage, Sen John Cornyn, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Video GayLA Times: Gay marriage question put to Sotomayor
The Los Angeles Times nots that Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about a court ruling that said Minnesota could deny a marriage license to two men.
From the Times:
“Did she agree, he asked, that the case, Baker vs. Nelson, reserved the question of marriage to …
Tags: Charles E Grassley, gay marriage, La Times, Los Angeles Times, marriage, Marriage License, Nots, Question Of Marriage, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Nominee, Two MenSotomayor makes rounds on Capitol Hill
(Washington) Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is racing through a crucial set of meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, working to reassure Republicans who worry she’d bring ethnic and gender bias to her decisions.
Sotomayor, who would be the high court’s first Hispanic and third woman, is telling senators in both …
Tags: Capitol Hill Washington, Decisions, Gender Bias, Republicans, Senators, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Nominee, Washington Supreme Court
