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Activist Judge Overturns Iowa AntiGay Marriage Law

Further Update:

The Iowa Supreme Court's decision is expected tomorrow, 3 April 2009.
 
GreyICE said:
Please note dates. September != April.
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I'm attempting to bring it to the attention of someone so that, just maybe, someone will actually have another link to the ruling so that I can read it. Next time I'll remember just to keep my mouth shut and not be able to learna damn thing. :rolleyes:
 
Brown said:
if you thinks this is confusing, as a New York lawyer why his Court of Appeals is higher than his Supreme Court.
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Because, in NY, the "Supreme Court" only references it being "supreme" to other trial-level courts, like civil court, traffic court, housing court, village court, etc. See? That wasn't confusing at all.

New York simply set up its court systems in the 1600's, well before the US Constitution declared the Judiciary to be embodied in a "Supreme Court of the United States" with the trial courts below it.

In most States the trial court is the "Superior Court", which is inferior to the Appellate Courts (which are inferior to the Supreme Court). They are called that because they are "superior" to the other trial courts. New York just picked "supreme" instead of "superior".

The federal courts are the least confusing. They named their courts after jurisdictions. The lower courts accept all cases in a judicial district and this are called "District Courts". The appellate courts are divided into circuits and are thus called "Circuit Courts". And they are all inferior to the highest court in the land, the "Supreme Court". (Well, except there are separate Bankruptcy Courts in each district... okay. It's a little confusing.)
 
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The link to where the opinion is expected to be is:

http://www.iowacourts.gov/Supreme_Court/Opinions/

Click "Most Recent Opinions."

As of this writing, the opinion is not there yet. There is a notice, however, that an opinion in the case of Varnum v. Brien is expected to be filed on April 3.

As indicated in a story in the Des Moines Register, the Court is gearing up for the inevitable protests, whatever the result may be.
The judicial building and the surrounding grounds “are not public forums for private use,” court administrators said in a written statement. “The judicial branch reserves the right to restrict private activities in the building and on its adjoining grounds to ensure the administration of justice at all stages is free from disruption, interference, and undue influence.”

Activities such as press conferences, rallies and other public gatherings will be confined to the lower terrace on the building’s north end, and the public sidewalk adjacent to Court Avenue, court administrators said. Access to the building must remain “open and unobstructed at all times,” the statement said.
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When a decision involving intense emotion and heightened public interest is decided, news organizations and political activists rush to report what the Court said. This often leads to misleading reporting, because it may take hours to give a court opinion due consideration and analysis.

Nevertheless, chances are that folks will look first at the cover page of the opinion. "AFFIRMED" means that the lower court's decision was upheld and prohibitions on gay marriage are unconstitutional under the Iowa constitution. But if the result is anything else ("REVERSED AND REMANDED," AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED," etc.), then that means: You have to read the opinion to see what the Court did. It does NOT necessarily mean that the gay marriage ban is constitutional.

Those skimming the opinion are also usually interested in how many justices voted each way. In Iowa, there are split decisions, just as there are in the US Supreme Court. But Iowa has a history of trying to issue unanimous opinions in as many cases as possible. (A few years ago, Chief Justice Roberts announced that he would try to achieve more uniformity of assent to opinions from the US Supreme Court. So far, he has failed. But Iowa has a history of success.)

If the decision is "AFFIRMED," I think it is possible but tending toward unlikely that the decision will be unanimous. If the decision is anything else, I think it is possible but moderately likely that the decision will be unanimous.
 
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DoubtingStephen said:
Of course the judge will be harshly villified.

A losing district attorney commented, after the judge ruled, that this matter should not be decided by a judge.
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Yeah, so WHO is supposed to rule on matters of law? Pat Robertson?
 
New York Times said:
The Iowa Supreme Court says the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making it the third state where gay marriage is legal.

In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge's ruling that the law violated the state constitution.
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Does this mean gay marriage is legal in Iowa immediately, as in today?
 
More
Court rules dictate that the decision will take about 21 days to be considered final, and a request for a rehearing could be filed within that period. That means it will be at least several weeks before gay and lesbian couples can seek marriage licenses.

But Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said the county attorney's office will not ask for a rehearing, meaning the court's decision should take effect after that three-week period.
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Upchurch said:
Oh, no! All those poor heterosexual people whose marriages are suddenly meaningless! Won't somebody think of the straight people?
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Good day for the divorce lawyers though....

Bravo Hawkeyes! :cheerleader2
 
As has been reported, the cover page says "AFFIRMED."

The decision was UNANIMOUS.

The number of pages of the opinion was 69. I'm sure that was a conicidence.

I have the decision in front of me. I have read it once, and will read it again before commenting in detail. I note, however, that the Court hits many of the questions discussed in this thread.

In a sense, the Court went further than Judge Hanson. In particular, the Court went out of its way to mention religious objections to same-sex marriage (see the discussion beginning on page 63). Further, the Court dropped a big fat hint to the legislature saying, don't try to legislate this decision out of the books; that won't work. The only body that can overturn this decision is the People, by amending the Constitution.
 
Upchurch said:
Iowa court backs same-sex marriage
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"It's, quite frankly, a disaster," said Brian English, a spokesman for the Iowa Family Policy Center, a nonprofit research and educational organization committed to strengthening the family.
"Obviously, we're extremely disappointed," he said. "We're saddened. Perhaps a little bit surprised in the unanimous decision that the court handed down."
English, who said opponents of gay marriage prayed outside the courthouse Friday as they awaited the court's decision, already has begun lobbying the legislature for an Iowa Marriage Amendment.
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I guess they didn't pray hard enough?

Or God is gay.

I report, you decide.
 
Thank you, Brown, for filling this thread with what the kids these days are calling "win."

My friend and classmate, who follows the gay marriage fight very closely in every state, informs me that Iowa has a relatively difficult constitution to amend (that is, it can't be amended simply by referendum). So this decision should "stick" a little longer than, say, California's. As in, permanently, we may hope.
 
One of my dictums is: "Reaction to news is not news."

This dictum is a criticism of local news organizations, particular local television news organizations, that need video to make up their daily programs. Whenever there is a momentous event of any kind, some schmuck reporter selects people off the street and asks for their reaction to the event. During the news organization's broadcast, there is a story about the event itself (which IS news), followed by "public reaction" (which is NOT news).

Today, however, reaction to the news of the Iowa Supreme Court's decision does appear to be news.

There seems to be a pervasive theme in the reactions of those who disagree with the decision: the disagreement is based heavily, if not exclusively, upon religious grounds.

To paraphrase Justice Cady, the argument that "God says so" carries no weight in a court of law.

The reaction to news is news here, because true colors are being shown. All this talk about secular justification for the Iowa statute is largely, if not exclusively, pretense. The basic objections to equal treatment of gays are religious. In the minds of many, it is the State's job to enforce the will of the Almighty--as they see it.
 
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