"The court holds that the marriage bans violate plantiffs' due process and equal protection guarantees under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Colorado currently allows civil unions for same-sex couples, but the state constitution prohibits issuing them marriage licenses. Judge Crabtree called that difference "further evidence of discrimination against same-sex couples."
Assistant Solicitor General Michael Francisco, who aided Mr. Suthers in the case, argued that the other federal judges who have overturned state same-sex marriage bans in recent months got it wrong. Mr. Francisco insisted that all 15 of those judges misread the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling on DOMA.
Of that argument, Judge Crabtree asked, "They all got it wrong? What am I supposed to do then when presented with this? Just punt?"
Governor John Hickenlooper (D) did not declare for one side or the other in the case. He did not try to stop the Attorney General from going forward with the case; but Governor Hickenlooper has called the ban "bad policy."
Judge Crabtree issued a stay on his decision, so same-sex couples will have to wait a while longer for this case to make its through the appeals process, along with those other 15 "wrongly" decided cases.
State Attorney General John W. Suthers defended the ban with an argument that said marriage is for the purpose of procreation.
This is one of those arguments that drives me nuts. If procreation was the be-all and end-all of marriage, then what about couples who cannot have children? Or choose not to? Should the state require that heterosexual couples have a fertility test and then deny those who cannot procreate a license to marry? And should a marriage license come with a clause that, should you not produce a child within xyz years, your license is revoked?Judge Crabtree took another view of the procreation argument by talking of two over-65 friends of his who are planning a wedding. Pointing out that they obviously have no plans to produce children, he asked the Attorney General "How do I divorce that from love and devotion? Where does that fit?"
Assistant Solicitor General Michael Francisco, who aided Mr. Suthers in the case, argued that the other federal judges who have overturned state same-sex marriage bans in recent months got it wrong. Mr. Francisco insisted that all 15 of those judges misread the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling on DOMA.
Of that argument, Judge Crabtree asked, "They all got it wrong? What am I supposed to do then when presented with this? Just punt?"
Governor John Hickenlooper (D) did not declare for one side or the other in the case. He did not try to stop the Attorney General from going forward with the case; but Governor Hickenlooper has called the ban "bad policy."
Judge Crabtree issued a stay on his decision, so same-sex couples will have to wait a while longer for this case to make its through the appeals process, along with those other 15 "wrongly" decided cases.
You'd think by now, these people would realize they have lost the war.
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