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Law, Unwrapped: Gay Marriage – Why Chris Christie Is Wrong On All Counts

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“Take it to the people!”

That’s the rallying cry du jour of those who oppose marriage equality. And it has a certain, superficial appeal: Given the importance of the issue, doesn’t it make sense to let the whole population decide rather than the legislature?

So argues New Jersey  Governor Chris Christie, who wasted little time delivering his promised veto of a marriage equality bill that the legislature comfortably passed. Most readers will recall his infamous statement that African-Americans would have liked to have avoided those pesky civil rights struggles by having their legal status put to a popular vote. Well, a few folks not-quite politely suggested that approach might not have gone so well. So Christie did a clumsy, two-step back pedal (first claiming that blacks would have liked the option of having their rights placed on the ballot, and then caving completely and taking it all back).

But the whole dust-up pinpoints the problem with his approach: We don’t put civil rights on the ballot, because the majority has its own interests and prejudices, and can’t be counted on to do what in hindsight is obviously the right thing. That’s sometimes true of legislatures, too – after all, they voted in the Jim Crow laws – but at least there’s reason to hope that our democratically elected representatives will take the longer view. I could go into some political theory about representative democracy here, but it’s not my job to educate the good governor. One lesson from New Jersey itself suffices: In 1915, Garden State voters were asked whether women should be allowed to join the men in the exercise of the franchise.

Their answer?  No.

The Nineteenth Amendment, which finally gave women the right to vote, and ratified by state legislatures just five years later, was needed to fix what New Jersey voters would not. Really, need any more be said?

Except for rare slip-ups like Christie’s, you won’t hear the anti-equality brigade mentioning these inconvenient historical facts, though. The “let the people decide” narrative is compelling – except when it isn’t. Thus, in New Hampshire they’re pressuring the legislature to roll back marriage equality because they know the voters aren’t likely to turn back time. (A Republican-sponsored measure to send the voters a constitutional amendment stealing gay couples’ right to marry was quietly shelved.) And let’s not forget that, just a few years ago, the cry was that marriage equality was being foisted on a helpless populace by evil, anti-democratic courts. So democracy was OK until they stopped getting the results they wanted. Now it’s all about direct democracy. It’s really all about opportunism.

So far, this is working – notably, with Proposition 8. And that was followed by the Maine voters’ decision in 2009 to roll back the marriage equality bill approved by that state’s legislature. The same efforts are likely in Maryland and Washington this year: the anti-equality forces should be able to gather enough signatures to place referenda on the ballot that would repeal marriage equality laws that have already passed (Washington) or soon will (Maryland).

Polls in both states suggest the strategy will fail, and that voters will decide to retain the marriage equality laws. I’m not so sure. The recent history of these measures suggests that favorable poll numbers don’t always translate into victory in these cases. Some think that people are reluctant to tell pollsters their plan to vote down their fellow citizens’ equality. They should be.

I hope I’m wrong, and my guess is that we’ll win at least one of these two fights. If we do, or when we win a popular vote in some other state, the last argument about how marriage equality is being rammed through by a group of elite activists will have been defeated. I’m sure the National Organization for Marriage and like-minded groups are already working on the next set of talking points.

Christie, though, isn’t NOM. He wants to be seen as a reasonable, moderate Republican (which, on some issues, he is). So his veto message was very chatty: Change this to civil unions and then I’ll create an ombudsman to solve the many problems that same-sex couples have encountered in trying to get public and private actors to treat their relationships the same as marriage.

Got all that? I might suggest, instead, that the simplest solution would be to call the relationships marriages. No other relationship will ever carry the same status. Why do you think they created civil unions in the first place?

A quick bit of recent historical context: In the 2006 case, Lewis v. Harris, the New Jersey Supreme Court instructed the legislature to find a way of granting same-sex couples legal equality. But the court, following the example set by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1999, gave the lawmakers an easy out by saying that, well, they didn’t have to call this equality “marriage.” Both state legislatures took the life raft and crafted the civil union compromise – a doomed effort to give same-sex couples all the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of marriage while withholding the name.

By 2009, a decade of experimenting with the civil union had convinced the Vermont legislature that only full marriage equality would suffice, and they passed the bill into law – over the governor’s veto. It’s time for the New Jersey lawmakers to do the same. Whatever individual legislators think about marriage equality, it’s by now clear that they haven’t created the equality that the court was (naively) hoping they would. The only way to carry out the court’s mandate is by defying Gov. Christie’s obfuscating call for an ombudsman and doing what equality demands. If they won’t do it, there’s a case working its way through the state courts that will order them to.

Why not do the right thing now?

 

Image: Chris Christie by Bob Jagendorf
 

Were he born 10,000 years ago, John Culhane would not have survived to adulthood; he has no useful, practical skills. He is a law professor who writes about various and sundry topics, including: disaster compensation; tort law; public health law; literature; science; sports; his own personal life (when he can bear the humanity); and, especially, LGBT rights and issues. He teaches at the Widener University School of Law and is a Senior Fellow at the Thomas Jefferson School of Population Health.

He is also a contributor to Slate Magazine, and writes his own eclectic blog. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter if you’re blessed with lots of time.

John Culhane lives in the Powelton Village area of Philadelphia with his partner David and their twin daughters, Courtnee and Alexa. Each month, he awaits the third Saturday evening for the neighborhood Wine Club gathering.

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Pam Bondi Quietly Disbands DOJ Task Force Targeting Russian Oligarchs

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8 hours ago

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February 6, 2025

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Three years ago, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland created a task force dedicated to enforcing U.S. sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs in response to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

“To those bolstering the Russian regime through corruption and sanctions evasion: we will deprive you of safe haven and hold you accountable,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said as the new task force was announced. “Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds.”

“We will leave no stone unturned,” Attorney General Garland declared, “in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war. Let me be clear: if you violate our laws, we will hold you accountable.”

Just one day into her new job, President Donald Trump’s newly-sworn-in U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, disbanded that group, known officially as Task Force KleptoCapture. NBC News’ Ken Dilanian and Tom Winter, among others, reported the development.

READ MORE: ‘Last Thing I Want Is That Guy’: Dem Warns Against Musk ‘Trying to Control the Airspace’

In announcing the March 2022 formation of Task Force KleptoCapture, Garland explained that it would be “dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.”

“Task Force KleptoCapture will ensure the full effect of these actions, which have been designed to isolate Russia from global markets and impose serious costs for this unjustified act of war, by targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct.”

Vanity Fair’s Bradley Hope, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, reported that Attorney General Bondi, via email, announced the closure of Task Force KleptoCapture on Wednesday at 7:30 PM, along with the Kleptocracy Initiative.

“The units recovered billions in stolen assets since 2010,” Hope wrote.

“But here’s the real story,” he added. “Sources say a key objective is gaining control of a multi-billion dollar forfeiture fund – money seized from corrupt officials that was meant to be returned to victim countries.”

“Where’s that money headed? Bondi’s memo cryptically mentions ‘other law enforcement purposes.’ Multiple sources say this means funding new detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay and Texas,” Hope reported.

At Project Brazen, Hope’s website, he offers much more detail.

Hope also points to a Bloomberg Law report revealing Bondi “is scaling back enforcement of laws governing foreign lobbying transparency and bribes of foreign officials.”

READ MORE: Trump Vows to Eradicate ‘Anti-Christian Bias,’ Says ‘We Have to Bring Religion Back’

Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Foreign Agents Registration Act will be narrower under the Trump administration, which “signals a dramatic retreat from two growth areas of white collar enforcement over the past ten to 15 years.”

“For instance,” Bloomberg noted, “the foreign lobbying policy comes after the department surged FARA enforcement starting under Special Counsel Robert Mueller, leading to prosecutions of prominent political figures in both parties. Bondi became familiar with the law’s requirements when she registered in recent years as a foreign agent while lobbying for the government of Qatar.”

Bloomberg’s report also notes that the KleptoCapture Task Force, “has led efforts to confiscate yachts, planes and real estate from rich Russians sanctioned over the war in Ukraine. The US has sent Russian assets confiscated as a result of the task force’s work to the benefit of Ukraine.”

In reporting that Bondi disbanded Task Force KleptoCapture, The Guardian noted that “Trump has spoken about improving relations with Moscow. He has previously vowed to end the war in Ukraine, though he has not released a detailed plan.”

Attorney Stephen Frank, a former federal prosecutor who worked on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases, told The Guardian, “It is a radical move away from traditional FCPA cases and toward a narrow subset of drug and violent crime-related cases that have never been the focus of FCPA enforcement.”

Meanwhile, cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller reported that Bondi also “used her first day on the job to disband the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, which has been a key part of government efforts to stop adversaries from meddling in U.S. democracy.”

READ MORE: ‘Democracy Weeks Away From Disintegrating’: Democratic Senator Issues Warning — and a Plan

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Last Thing I Want Is That Guy’: Dem Warns Against Musk ‘Trying to Control the Airspace’

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12 hours ago

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February 6, 2025

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U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, the Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued sharp criticism of President Donald Trump’s Director of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, and cautioned him against “trying to control the airspace.” The Washington Democrat said she would ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to prevent Musk from participating in efforts to reform the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while also citing concerns over an alleged conflict of interest.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday (video below), Senator Cantwell announced she was sending a letter expressing her concerns to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

“It’s a clear conflict of interest, and Secretary Duffy should make sure that Mr. Musk is not part of the FAA air transportation system,” said Cantwell, who also serves as an ex-officio member of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation, and the Subcommittee on Space and Science.

“He has been fined for violations. He worked hard to try to get Mr. Whitaker, somebody who was approved 98 – 0, I think, out of the system, and it is a clear conflict of interest,” she noted. Senator Cantwell was referring to Michael Whitaker, the now-former head of the FAA who “clashed with Trump ally Elon Musk by proposing that his company SpaceX be fined over safety issues,” according to The Independent. The Guardian reported Whitaker had been “forced out” after Musk “called for him to quit.”

READ MORE: Trump Vows to Eradicate ‘Anti-Christian Bias,’ Says ‘We Have to Bring Religion Back’

Reuters reported Secretary Duffy “said he spoke to Musk on Tuesday about airspace reform issues and to Musk’s government reform team.”

“‘They are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system,’ Duffy said on X.”

When she was asked, “how bad of an idea is it to have DOGE involved in FAA,” when their goal is to “cut cut cut and they’re short on controllers?” Cantwell pointed to Congress’s efforts to increase the number of air traffic controllers.

“Congress has spoken, we want 3,000 more air traffic controllers. If President Trump and the administration want to talk to Congress about ways to get even more air traffic controllers because they’ve been working six days a week, we will certainly take that conversation, and if they want to help implement NextGen faster, we will take that, and if he wants to help implement standards for both the military and other commercial airplanes to have this, what is called ADS-B in and out, which gives you more information about who’s in your airspace, we gladly welcome that, too,” Cantwell explained.

On Thursday, Trump “vowed his administration will create a ‘great computerized system’ for air traffic control that, had it been in place, could have prevented the recent midair crash involving a passenger jet and a helicopter that killed 67 people,” Politico reported. “Trump is likely referring to the NextGen program, the FAA’s multiyear effort to move from radar to a satellite-based air traffic control system that has been underway for years. However, it has beset by cost overruns and delays and is expected to be less transformational than originally promised.”

Senator Cantwell drew a line at Musk, she said, “trying to control the airspace.”

READ MORE: ‘Democracy Weeks Away From Disintegrating’: Democratic Senator Issues Warning — and a Plan

“What we don’t welcome is a man who’s regulated by this sector and who has had fines for violation of safety, which is launch issues related to protecting the flying public, at a time when you need the FAA to call the shots and say, ‘don’t launch now because there could be a conflict in the airspace,’ the last thing I want is that guy trying to control the airspace.”

Professor William J. McGee, a Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project and an FAA-licensed dispatcher, responded: “Sen. Cantwell is right. There’s no question this is a clear conflict of interest.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Demagoguery’: Comer and Republicans Melt Down When Democrat Tries to Subpoena Musk

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Trump Vows to Eradicate ‘Anti-Christian Bias,’ Says ‘We Have to Bring Religion Back’

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15 hours ago

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February 6, 2025

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In a “meandering” speech filled with off-script jokes, recycled campaign lines, and religious-themed policy announcements, President Donald Trump addressed religious and political leaders at the controversial National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He pledged to “protect Christians” and announced plans to direct the U.S. Department of Justice to create a task force to “eradicate” what he called “anti-Christian bias.”

“Well, we wanna bring religion back stronger, bigger, better than ever before. It’s very important,” the President declared. “We have to have religion and it suffered greatly over the last few years, but it’s coming back.”

“We have to bring religion back. We have to bring it back much stronger. It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time. We have to bring it back.”

He promised to “protect Christians” in schools, the military, in government, workplaces, hospitals, public squares, and said, “I will always protect religious liberty,” as he continued unveiling religious policy promises.

READ MORE: ‘Democracy Weeks Away From Disintegrating’: Democratic Senator Issues Warning — and a Plan

“And that is why today,” he declared, “I’m announcing that I will be creating a brand new presidential commission on religious liberty. It’s gonna be a very big deal, which will work tirelessly to uphold this most fundamental right. Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve seen this sacred liberty threatened like never before in American history. There’s nothing happened like the last four years what’s happened with so many things have gone bad, but religion, what they’ve done, and the persecution that they’ve executed, have been just horrible.”

“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible. The IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies,” Trump alleged. “In addition, the task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers, nationwide. We’ve never had that before, but this is a very powerful document I’m signing, you’ve got it, you get it now.”

Trump praised himself for “showing up to the Prayer Breakfast,” falsely implying that his predecessors had not. He also hinted at the possibility of running for a third term—an idea some Republicans are backing with congressional legislation—and firmly asserted that the President of the United States should be a person of faith.

READ MORE: ‘Demagoguery’: Comer and Republicans Melt Down When Democrat Tries to Subpoena Musk

“We have a mandate and lets say the most consequential election in 129 years, and that’s good because I’m a believer, like you’re a believer, and we want to have a believer in this position,” Trump said.

“I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief,” he added. “Let’s bring religion back. Let’s bring God back into our lives.”

The President mentioned the tragic loss of 67 lives in a recent mid-air crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saying their time on earth was over but they are now with God. He swiftly transitioned to talk about the assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, declaring, “It was God that saved me,” and claiming his son Don’s embrace of religion had increased as a result.

Before falsely claiming, as he has countless times before, that his election allowed Americans to once again say, “Merry Christmas,” Trump said that “from the very beginning of our republic, America has always been a nation founded by people of faith and strengthened by the power of prayer and united by four simple, but very beautiful words: ‘in God we trust.’ And you all know there was a movement to get that out.”

“In God We Trust,” was officially adopted as the motto of the United States in 1956.

He also told attendees, “we get rid of woke over the last two weeks.”

The American Humanist Foundation on Thursday declared that the “National Prayer Breakfast and its ties to the Fellowship Foundation, an extreme Christian Nationalist organization, are a sham. Holding a government-run, taxpayer-funded Christian ceremony in the U.S. Capitol disrespects the secular ideals that founded this country.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Democrats Vow to Hold the Floor ‘All Night’ to Block Trump ‘Project 2025’ Nominee

 

Image via Reuters

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