By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau –
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court took no action Friday on a series of pending appeals involving gay marriage, putting off until at least next week a decision on which cases to hear.
The justices met behind closed doors to debate cases involving the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, the voter initiative that limits marriage to a man and a woman. The court said only that it had agreed to hear two new business cases.
Nonetheless, the court is almost certain to review at least one of the gay-marriage cases.
The U.S. appeals courts in Boston and New York have struck down the part of the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. That means the federal law is constitutional in much of the nation, but not in other parts. The high court must step in to resolve that issue.
It is not certain the court will want to decide the fate of Proposition 8. It was struck down last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that California voters took away from gays and lesbians a right to marry they had won in the state courts.
If the justices were to deny an appeal in that case, it would clear the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California, but it would not set a national precedent. The court will announce on Monday morning which appeals have been turned down, and it is possible the Proposition 8 appeal will be dismissed then.
In one action Friday, the justices agreed to decide if human genes can be patented. Civil liberties advocates and some medical experts have been contesting a patent for a gene sequence that has been linked to breast cancer. The advocates argue that since a human gene is a creation of nature, it cannot be patented and controlled by a private company.
“It’s wrong to think that something as naturally occurring as DNA can be patented by a single company that limits scientific research and the free exchange of ideas,” said Chris Hansen, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
“its an abomination unto the lord”
Only in your eyes. Not everyone believes in your lord or your bible. It is very chauvinistic to believe your religion is the only right one. After all, isn’t that why people dislike radical Muslims?
Divorce is also an abomination unto the lord but I bet you have many divorced friends you hypocrite.
I don’t have a problem with gay marriage or relationships. My only fear is that it will open a floodway for other “nonconformist” relationships to try to become legal. LDS followers will want plural marriage to be legal because whom is that hurting. Will juveniles petition to have the age of consent lowered because they feel they “have a right” to have sex with anyone they want over the age of 18. And so on. Now, I’m NOT saying I agree with any of this. I’m saying that there are groups out there who may use the legalization of gay marriage to push their own agendas that are even less acceptable to the public than gay marriage. The judicial branch has become more and more liberal in granting personal rights of this nature and where will it draw the line? I’m not talking about issues that are against any religion. I’m talking about mental health issues. What is good or bad for the human race? It will become an ethical dilemma if these legal issues every arise. The more liberal our laws become, the more things people will want legalized that will damage our society, such as drug use. There have already been enough goofy interpretations to laws that just shouldn’t happen.
Our culture has rapidly degraded in the past 40 years with drug usage, rampant crimes against others, the breakdown of the family unit, and lack of empathy for others. The laws we have have no teeth and way too many people have no respect for them and simply ignore them. It sometimes seems the only laws that have any teeth are civil laws used when someone gets sued. It feels as if lawyers are the only ones with any legal power in this country any more. They are the only ones who are feared. It’s time we give the legal power back to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges. We need to have zero tolerance for they type of behavior that is ruining our society. We need more prisons, funded by sales taxes on Internet sales, with behavior modification rehab much like military training where there is structure, strict training with goals, education, and no nonsense. It’s time we take our country back from the unethical goons who are overrunning it.
I have to agree with Katie. I know that my Shitz Tzu loves me, and I think that she wants to get married. Since animals have rights now, how am I going to tell her no.
For some reason I thought the issue here was gay marriage.
I responded to Katie’s post, second sentence, (“nonconformist” relationships) opens it up to a whole new world for noncomformists. And I agree with, get the facts.
Can anyone tell me objectively what is wrong with gay marriage? Robbery-illegal-taking what isn’t yours. Murder-illegal-taking someone’s life. Libel-illegal-printing something not true about some one else. But other than, “the bible says it’s wrong”, or “it’s against nature”, or “it’s sick and perverted”, all of which depend on personal interpretation, can anyone give me an objective, concrete reason what is wrong with gay marriage? Keep emotion out of it, and give me one real reason. Just one.
wrong. it’s not a personal interp. It’s the word of god. God doesn’t hate the homosexual,he hates the ACT of homosexuality.
typical of a non christian to respond in this manner. and the Lord said to many who tired to enter heaven, “be gone, I never knew you”