This is still a developing story…
Federal judge rules gay marriage ban unconstitutional - Omaha World-Herald
U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon struck down Thursday Nebraska’s constitutional provision prohibiting gay marriage or civil unions.
Joseph Bataillon was nominated by President Clinton and was confirmed by the Senate 100-0 in September of 1997.
THAT SUCKS.
There are no second class citizens!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a great ruling.
I have just gained back a little faith in this country I lost after the nov. elections….
National headlines spotlighting just how backward Nebraska is. Alabama’s got nothing on us. Thank God for the few reasonable human beings we have out there.
I say its about time someone had the guts to call that law what it is: unconstitutional and contrary to American values.
Tell me, if Nebraska’s just a bunch of backward hicks, why then are you going to school here instead of, say, Harvard, UCLA, or even Oxford? (They really hate Bush over there.)
It’s a sad day in America when rulings like this are made by ignorant judges that were appointed by Slick Willy.
Yep, Joe, you’re right. I would have never thought I’d see the day when one man, who cannot be held accountable for his actions in any way, shape or form, overrule the majority of the voting public.
I guess we can only hope the 8th Circuit Court is smarter than this guy.
Someone needs to gain control of these wack job judges.
Joe and Kyle-
Did you guys even listen to the reasons for the ruling? Do you even know how far the Nebraska law goes? Get off your “lynch the activist judges” bandwagon and respect why we have a judicial system. How can you have a law that violates the equal protection ammendment? I’m glad I live in a country where we can’t just make every law based solely on what the majority wants. Laws have to be fair to everyone, especially when the people singled out in this stupid law didn’t do anything in the first place. And courts do sometimes overrule the vote of the majority of the public. Did you forget how George W. Bush became president four years ago? Al Gore stepped aside when they ruled and let the process go forward. If Nebraska wants to define marriage, write the law fairly like the other states have done.
Mike as long as the judges agree with you then there just common main stream judges that are being attacked right? C’mon open your eyes man.
Amendment XIV
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
for a party that likes to state they they are for less government meddling it is always humourous to me that republicans go out of their way to meddle in the lives of others so firecely and as for your majority aguement a majority of Americans thought that it was ok to own slaves but that did not make it moral or just.
Hey Robin “nor shall any state deprive any person of LIFE, liberty, or property.” But we kill hundreds of thousands of babies a year in this country literally wiping out whole generations of people in this country and you dont seem to be up in arms about that. And you say Jim Vokal is a hypocrite. YEAH RIGHT another hypocrisy by the Democrats.
Here we go again, somehow this debate goes back to abortion. Isn’t this topic about the DOMA ruling? Focus, focus!
And PS Jim Vokal is gay, he cruised me twice on my walk today.
okay now that there is another mike on here i will be posting as Mike M, the one from UNO dems
Mike Robyn said everyone has the right to life liberty and he pursuit of happiness.
And not everyone has that right. Like you said, Gays Unborn children etc. Come on you were the people who said and now it only includes gay people. That is hypocritical. C’mon Mike Focus!
Joe keeps on blabbering. Let me say this. Just like the fight during the civil rights movements, sooner or later progress will come about. People will come around. Conservatives can only temporalily hault progress. Liberals and Progressives will win. For example; look at high school students. While it may be that 50% of high school students are opposed to same-sex marriage that is less than the 70% of voters who voted against the amendment. One can deduce that in 2015, only 35% of high school students will be opposed. In 2025, it could be less than 25% of high school students will be opposed to same sex marriage. It is true that since high school students are more open to the notion of same-sex marriage that society as a whole will become more open to the notion of same-sex marriage. Why do you think that religious wackos are fighting so hard to stop progress. Conservatives know that this issue, while helping their cause now, will hurt their cause later.
That is why we liberals and progressives need to stand up and say that enough is enough. We will no longer sit idlely by while people are being discriminated against. Remember that it was Jesus who accepted and embraced the Lepers and the outcasts.
I got dizzy reading all of those “statistics” Somehow I think I changed my long distance phone service carrier while reading it.
Okay total change of subject, but has anyone heard that outrageous commercial about Janice Brown and Priscilla Owens? “President Bush has chosen very qualified judges..” –i don’t know if that is the exact quote but it’s the basic messaage. ummmmmmmmmm……..hellooooo?? Just because they have the same views, does not make them qualified.
When Brown was nominated to the state supreme court, she was found UNqualified by the state bar evaluation committee because she was inexperienced and she inserted her conservative political views into her rulings. (from the PFAW website.)
Owens is also guilty of letting her personal opinions influence her rulings. She is notorious for her rigid opposition to abortion and her clear support of a pro-business PAC that raised money to influence the Texas Supreme Court.
CLEARLY neither of these women have taken their responsibility to uphold the laws of our country and should not be Supreme Court judges!
Meg,
I am wondering why move on or some other 527 isn’t sponoring a counter to these obvious lies. Everytime I see tthat commerical it makes me ill with rage. Did you know that Judge brown says it ok to discriminate?
More importantly Frist has moved the nomination to the Senate. We need to call our Senators and all the swing vote on this issue and let them know our opposition to this and the nuclear option.
The fillibuster was a measured success but I think we need to kick it up a notch and involve all colleges and universities in Nebraska and a Good old fillibuster.
Actually Moveonpac, People for the American way and other organizations are running commercials on tv.
Also, it is not that these judges (i.e Saab, Rogers-Brown, Pryor, Owen) are conservative that I have the problem, but rather that these judges would be HARMFUL to the citizens of the United States. Here is some info on certain judges:
Janice Rogers-Brown http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=14177
Priscilla Owen
http://media.pfaw.org/POwen_Nuclear_Talking_Points.pdf
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=14175
and others http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=14172
Thanks Adam for the links. I am glad that there is a counterattack to this campaign of misinformation and lies. The only reason why I questioned was because I haven’t seen the Move on commerical but, I have seen that up or down commerical in heavy rotation.
People need to understand that the right is lying on this subject the Senate has approved about 200 of his nominees(bush) we are only oppossed to 10 of them and the senate has offered to give them 5.
They aren’t telling you that not only did they block 69 of Clinton’s nominees but some never made it out of committee. Who isn’t being fair now? The President and the far right seem to think just because he nominates someone that they should automatically be confirmed, if that were the case then these positions should just be appointed instead of nominated.
the republicans want to break from 214yr of Senate history.
The Senate was created to give voice to the minority. If Frist and Co go thru with their “option” then I am behind democrats 150% with their decision to shut down the Senate.
We have to take a stand because as all of you know if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.
Quotes
“My grandparents’ generation thought being on the government dole was disgraceful, a blight on the family’s honor. Today’s senior citizens blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a right to get as much “free” stuff as the political system will permit them to extract…Big government is…[t]he drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms, for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers, and militant senior citizens. [IFJ speech at 2,3]
- Janice Rogers Brown”
“The United States Supreme Court, however, began in the 1940s to incorporate the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment…The historical evidence supporting what the Supreme Court did here is pretty sketchy…The argument on the other side is pretty overwhelming that it’s probably not incorporated.”
- Janice Rogers Brown, Speech to Pepperdine Bible Lectureship entitled “Beyond the Abyss: Restoring Religion on the Public Square,” in 1999
What you want someone who has said these things sitting in a lifetime position?
Joe and Kyle:
Let me guess, you don’t like women or blacks either? You would prefer that the majority of voters in the 1920’s (who were men) should continue to be the only voters because you feel that the majority wanted women to stay out of the political process? Or, how about blacks. I bet you would have voted to keep blacks as second class citizens in the 60’s cuz the majority wanted that to occur too. Just because you don’t agree with a judges ruling doesn’t mean they are activist judges: it means you are spoiled rotten brats. Sometimes following the constitution is painful for people who are seeking their own interests.
Here is a link to videos of Dems speaking on these radical judicial nominees. everyone should call or email these Senators for defending the constitution so valiantly.
http://www.dembloggers.com/story/2005/5/18/111414/903
Here is a link to some great ads sponsered by moveonpac http://www.moveonpac.org/archive/pacads05.html
I am a college republican and I am disgusted with Joe. While I agree with alot of things he say’s I think he has taken things too far. I would appreciate it Joe if you would lighten up and find better things to do. Thanks.
The reason this has become an issue is not the candidates or the vote on them- rather the lack of a vote. If the Dems would actually let a vote take place we could end this issue. If they don’t want these 2 women there is a perfectly easy way to get keep them out of office- get 51 votes against them and take the vote. If they had those votes, would we be here talking about this issue?
The filibuster isn’t traditonally used to block nominations, but that doesn’t mean that it’s against the rules to use it that way. People continue to ask why democrats are so afraid of the church, but an even more fair question is why are republicans so afraid of the courts?
Hey Bushies………… http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/
George W. Bush Approval Rating
43% Approve
51% Disapprove
That means that over half of the American people believe this president is a complete putz.
And BTW, look at Clinton Numbers at the period of his presidency
CBS News/New York Times Poll (5/6-8/97)
58%Approve
31%Disapprove
Even post blowjob……….Clinton still had a higher approval rating than George W. Bush.
Chris,
Like I said before many of Clinton’s nominees didn’t even make it out of committee. Why because the Republicans wanted a chance to stack the courts you do forgive me when if I think that they are being hypocrits by caling for a straight up or down because since you have the majority that up or down is no more than a rubbber stamp.
The Senate is there to advise and consent not give into the president’s or the majorities every little whim. for those of you who say well I see Chris Point why not just vote? Let me show you all something.
Senator Charles Schumer Barack Obama and others did a little researching on judicial conformation votes
2703 yeah 1 NAY
All the republicans voted for even the most radical judges all of the time. Who was the only dissentor it was Trentt Lottt and who was the judge he was Judge Gregory nominated by Clinton to be the first black nominated to the court of appeals in his area.
He was vehemently oppossed by Jesse Helms and Lott picked up the slack later. Yet this is the same party that wants to cram race down my throat whenever I don’t approve of someone that has the same ethnic background as myself from holding some high profile position based on their ideology.
The numbers speak for themselves people, up or down just means rubber stamp. We elected our Senators to advise and consent, the Senate by contrast to the House Of Representatives is a place for debate. Republicans don’t want to debate these judicial nominees becuase then America would see just how extreme they are. Support the fillibuster and let our Senate do its’ job.
Robin Q,
Way To Go!!!!!!! I agree totally, your last statement is true, if we had more republicans engaging in a an actual debate of the issues, puprle states would definatly turn into blue states!
Terrible ruling. It interferes with State’s rights and grants far too much power to the federal government to usurp the will of the people.