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Related: About this forumAppeals court to hear arguments on Virginia ban on gay marriage
The Washington PostAppeals 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 Virginias strict ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions violates the constitutional rights of the commonwealths estimated 14,000 gay couples.
A three-judge panel will review the February decision of a Norfolk federal district judge that Virginias 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 Virginias 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
(19,964 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Bloomberg News
Gay Marriage Foes Argue Against Tide for Virginias Ban
By Andrew Harris and Peter Galuszka May 13, 2014
A bid to revive Virginias 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 Allens 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?