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BREAKING: Supreme Court Kills DOMA And Prop 8

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The U.S. Supreme Court just minutes ago issued two decisions in landmark marriage cases, ruling in favor of same-sex marriage supporters. In a 5-4 ruling the Court ruled that section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, based on the Fifth Amendment. It is a broad ruling, rendering the 1996 law that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages effectively void.

On Proposition 8, the Court deferred to the lower court’s ruling — that was upheld by a higher court — which allowed California same-sex couples to marry, stating that the plaintiffs that brought the case to the court did not have “standing” to do so. The Supreme Court ruling effectively invalidates the four-year old California constitutional initiative as unconstitutional. The ruling was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the majority.

Prop 8 was a ballot initiative that California voters passed, writing anti-gay discrimination directly into the Golden State’s constitution, not only banning the right of same-sex couples to marry, but taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry after they had been granted it. The amendment to the constitution passed in 2008 by (approximately) a 52-48 vote.

“DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled ot recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty,” the ruling states, relying on federalism principles. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia dissented.

DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 that banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, but allowed individual states to decide the issue. Since its passage, dozens of federal judges, President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and many others have deemed it unconstitutional. Even President Bill Clinton, who signed it into law, voiced his opposition to the law recently.

The American people in polls overwhelmingly have believed DOMA should be repealed or struck down, and also believe same-sex couples should be given the right to marry.

skitched-20130625-211415The DOMA case, officially United States v. Windsor, involves Edith Windsor (Edie, right, below) and her case against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which demanded she pay over $363,000 in estate inheritance taxes because the federal government did not recognize her marriage as valid. But the state of New York — where Windsor lived with her long-time partner of more than four decades, Thea Spyer — recognized their marriage as valid. Historically, states had been the entity to decide who is allowed to marry and who is not, and the federal government generally deferred to those decisions.

18,000 same-sex couples married in California between the time the California Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples had the right to marry, and when voters rescinded that right. Those couples were allowed to retain their marriages as legal, creating yet another distinct class of citizenry — something most courts abhor.

The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that Prop 8 indeed was the result of anti-gay animus, supporting the 2010 ruling by U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker and the subsequent 2012 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 appeal decision.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in both cases in late March of this year.

skitched-20130625-212101Ironically, today marks the ten-year anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas, a Supreme Court case that effectively made same-sex sexual activity legal.

This is a developing story and may be updated throughout the day.

Stay with The New Civil Rights Movement all day, and through the week for breaking news, analysis, and opinion on the SCOTUS same-sex marriage decisions from our community’s finest and most-respected attorneys, activists, politicians, and even plaintiffs in other marriage cases. 

Read more on our team of guest authors who will be sharing opinions and analysis today and this week.

 

Image, top, by HRC via Twitter. Image of Edie Windsor by Gina Webber via Instagram. New York Times image by Lambda Legal, via Twitter.

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News

Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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April 19, 2024

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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13 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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16 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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