Today's Appeals Court decision in California overturning Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage enacted by referendum on the same day the first African American was elected president, is not as broad as I'd hope it would be.
I mention Starbucks not so much to rally to its defense as to make a point about same-sex marriage, enacted in New York last June and now under serious consideration in Maryland, Maine and New Jersey.
The case concerning California's ban on same-sex marriage, enacted in a ballot initiative known as Proposition 8, was decided on technical grounds, with the majority saying that it was not properly before the court.
The court's finding that the ban on same-sex marriage enacted by California's voters violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment has major potential implications.
Although it has been a law for more than a decade, the effectiveness of the law against sexual violence in marriage enacted in The Elimination of Violence in Household Law No.23 Year 2004 is not clearly visible.
The money would be used to pay for a flurry of advertising on behalf of Republican, Democratic and independent candidates who support three of his biggest policy initiatives: legalizing same-sex marriage, enacting tougher gun laws and overhauling schools.
The key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the misnamed anti-gay-marriage law enacted almost seventeen years ago, was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
By Richard Socarides June 26 , 2013The key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the misnamed anti-gay-marriage law enacted almost seventeen years ago, was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
For example, if you are writing about gay marriage in 2013, you could reference the federal Defense of Marriage Act enacted in 1996 as well as the states that recently passed laws allowing or prohibiting gay marriage.
The marital plans are less controversial and morality-tinged than the covenant marriage laws enacted in Arizona and Louisiana that allow couples to sign rigid marriage contracts permitting divorce only because of adultery, abuse, abandonment, imprisonment of a spouse or long marital separation.
