Appeals court to hear arguments on Virginia ban on gay marriage

[theHandpuppet]

The Washington Post
Appeals court to hear arguments on Virginia ban on gay marriage
By Robert Barnes

RICHMOND — A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments Tuesday about whether Virginia’s strict ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions violates the constitutional rights of the commonwealth’s estimated 14,000 gay couples.

A three-judge panel will review the February decision of a Norfolk federal district judge that Virginia’s comprehensive ban — it also bars recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states where it is legal and any legal arrangement that resembles marriage — violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.

U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen issued a sweeping 41-page opinion that drew comparisons to Virginia’s past prohibition to interracial marriage, the challenge of which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling.

She struck the constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage that Virginia voters approved in 2006.... MORE at http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/appeals-court-to-hear-arguments-on-virginia-ban-on-gay-marriage/2014/05/12/38b64ada-da13-11e3-8009-71de85b9c527_story.html

[theHandpuppet]

1. Related article from the Richmond Times Dispatch

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/appeals-court-hears-gay-marriage-case-today/article_023abfb4-d9f4-11e3-a4a3-0017a43b2370.html

[theHandpuppet]

2. Gay Marriage Foes Argue Against Tide for Virginia’s Ban

Bloomberg News
Gay Marriage Foes Argue Against Tide for Virginia’s Ban
By Andrew Harris and Peter Galuszka May 13, 2014

A bid to revive Virginia’s gay-marriage ban follows a series of defeats this year for opponents of same-sex unions, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June triggered challenges to restrictions nationwide.

Lawyers for two county clerks are set today to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond to reinstate the law in the face of 11 consecutive rulings in favor of same-sex marriage in state and federal courts. Their own attorney general, Democrat Mark Herring, refused to defend the law before it was ruled unconstitutional by a lower court judge in February.

The case is the third to reach a federal appeals court since the Supreme Court struck down a U.S. statute defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. One or more of those cases may return the issue to the Supreme Court, which stopped short of declaring a right to gay marriage...

...Prince William County Court Clerk Michele McQuigg is also seeking reversal of Allen’s ruling. She is represented by the Scottsdale, Arizona-based Christian advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.... MORE at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-13/gay-marriage-foes-argue-against-tide-to-revive-virginia-s-ban

Doncha just love these hate groups that use words like "Liberty" and "Freedom" to identify themselves?