Puerto Rico's gay marriage ban upheld by federal judge

[Newsjock]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage remains in place after a federal judge dismissed a challenge to the ban Tuesday, saying the U.S. Supreme Court established a precedent four decades ago.

U.S. District Judge Juan M. Pérez-Giménez said in his decision that by dismissing an appeal in Baker vs. Nelson, a 1971 case in which two men sought to marry in Minnesota, the Supreme Court bound all lower courts to assume bans on same-sex marriage do not violate the Constitution. The high court could choose to overrule itself but has not, he said.

Pérez-Giménez went on to say that legalizing same-sex marriage would open the door to challenges that could legalize polygamous and incestuous marriages. “Ultimately,” he wrote, “the very survival of the political order depends upon the procreative potential embodied in traditional marriage.”

He dismissed the challenge with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be refiled.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-puerto-rico-gay-marriage-20141021-story.html

[sakabatou]

1. *headdesk*

[Moonwalk]

2. I guess this means Pat Robertson is moving to Puerto Rico...

[Princess Turandot]

3. Fed Court Appeals for Puerto Rico are handled by the First Circuit...

which also covers Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. All of those states have legalized gay marriage.

Sounds like the last gasp of a lunatic.

From Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSBlog (boldface by me):

Relying mainly on two legal points that federal courts have repeatedly rejected over the past sixteen months, a federal trial judge in San Juan ruled Tuesday that Puerto Rico’s ban on same-sex marriage survives constitutional challenge. The combination of a one-line Supreme Court decision in 1972 and the Court’s full-scale ruling in June a year ago on the federal Defense of Marriage Act means that lower courts are required to leave the marriage question to the states (and to Puerto Rico), U.S. District Judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez declared in a twenty-one-page opinion.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/10/puerto-rico-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-upheld/#more-219988

[krkaufman]

4. contradictory?

Pérez-Giménez went on to say that legalizing same-sex marriage would open the door to challenges that could legalize polygamous and incestuous marriages. “Ultimately,” he wrote, “the very survival of the political order depends upon the procreative potential embodied in traditional marriage.”

Ummm... wouldn't a "procreative potential" benchmark be an argument in favor of allowing polygamy, judge?

[SoapBox]

5. "the very survival of the political order..."

Well ain't that a fucking joke!

[sa2968]

6. This is not surprising...

Last edited Wed Oct 22, 2014, 07:32 AM - Edit history (1)

...Judge Perez Gimenez is a member of Opus Dei.

[theHandpuppet]

7. "Procreative potential"?

So should persons past childbearing age be forbidden to marry? How about those unable to conceive? What a load of insulting hogwash. Frankly, that decision of his sounds as if it was simply copied from the website of the USCCB. The following is just a taste of the drivel to be found at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/frequently-asked-questions-on-defense-of-marriage.cfm

What is marriage?
Marriage is the lifelong partnership of mutual and exclusive fidelity between a man and a woman ordered by its very nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children (see CCC, no. 1601; CIC, can. 1055.1; GS, no. 48). The bond of marriage is indissoluble – that is, it lasts “until death do us part.” At the heart of married love is the total gift of self that husband and wife freely offer to each other. Because of their sexual difference, husband and wife can truly become “one flesh” and can give to each other “the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love” (FC, no. 14).

Marriage between a baptized man and a baptized woman is a sacrament. This means that the bond between husband and wife is a visible sign of the sacrificial love of Christ for his Church. As a sacrament, marriage gives spouses the grace they need to love each other generously, in imitation of Christ.

4.Why can’t marriage be “redefined” to include two men or two women?
The word “marriage” isn’t simply a label that can be attached to different types of relationships. Instead, “marriage” reflects a deep reality – the reality of the unique, fruitful, lifelong union that is only possible between a man and a woman. Just as oxygen and hydrogen are essential to water, sexual difference is essential to marriage. The attempt to “redefine” marriage to include two persons of the same sex denies the reality of what marriage is. It is as impossible as trying to “redefine” water.