Idaho Governor and Attorney General take gay marriage case to SCOTUS

Because they're idiots, Idaho's Governor Butch Otter and AG Lawrence Wasden have filed separate petitions to the SCOTUS to stop gay marriage. They claim the marriage case has national consequences. As if!

Idahostateman.com reports:

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Idaho since an October ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has struck down bans across the West.

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's filing Friday states that the issue is a matter of a state's right to define marriage without the federal government's involvement.

"This case presents the Court with the opportunity to resolve a divisive split on a question of nationwide importance: Whether the United States Constitution now prohibits states from maintaining the traditional definition of civil marriage, i.e., between one man and one woman," Wasden said in the petition.

Gov. Butch Otter's petition, filed Tuesday, states that the high court should review Idaho's case alone or in addition to a pending case involving the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the right of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee to decide whether to allow gay marriage.

Gay Marriages start Today in Idaho

Idaho Governor Butch Otter is getting out of the way and allowing gay marriage to take place. His office released a statement of defeat:

“The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued its mandate for enforcement of decisions overturning the Idaho Constitution’s prohibition on same-sex marriage effective at 10 a.m. MDT, 9 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, October 15. I continue to believe that the federal courts are mistaken in abandoning the sanctity of traditional marriage and in undermining the will of Idaho voters and each state’s right to define marriage. But we are civil society that respects the rule of law. We have done all we can through the courts for now to defend traditional marriage in Idaho.”

So this morning, gay couples will wed and Idaho just got a bit better.

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Justice Anthony Kennedy Halts Marriage in Idaho, but Lifts the Stay in Nevada

Today, Justice Kennedy was on a roll.

Earlier, he placed a stay on Idaho, halting marriage for the state. However, he lifted the stay in Nevada, allowing gay couples to get married.

Here's more from Buzzfeed:

In response to a last-minute request from lawyers for the state of Idaho, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Wednesday stopped Tuesday’s federal appeals court marriage ruling from from going into effect immediately.
The temporary order appears to have put same-sex couples’ marriages on hold in both states impacted by Tuesday’s decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — Idaho and Nevada — despite the request only having coming from Idaho officials.
Under a Tuesday evening order from the 9th Circuit, the mandate in the cases challenging both Idaho and Nevada’s bans on same-sex couples’ marriages was issued. The mandate is the final step the appeals court needed to take in order to put its ruling that the bans are unconstitutional into effect.

Following the issuance of the mandate, Nevada officials announced they would not be appealing further and at least some local officials began preparing to allow same-sex couples to begin marrying on Wednesday. Idaho officials gave no such indication, with the state’s attorney general saying, “It’s still too early to know fully what the decision and orders mean for Idaho and how the state will proceed.”

On Wednesday morning, however, lawyers for Idaho went to the Supreme Court, asking Kennedy to issue a temporary stay of the 9th Circuit’s mandate, noting, “Unless stayed, the district court’s injunction and the Ninth Circuit’s mandate will compel Idaho officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning at 8:00 a.m. MDT this morning.”

In Idaho: Judge refuses to stay Gay Marriages

Judge Candy has done it again!

She refused the Idaho governor's request to stop or put gay marriages on hold.

She said that Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's appeal wouldn't go to far and it was no need for it. So on Friday, same-sex couple can get their marriage licenses!

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Federal Judge Strikes down Gay Marriage Ban in Idaho

Yesterday, Judge Candy Dale ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

Judge Dale stated:

Idaho’s Marriage Laws withhold from them a profound and personal choice, one that most can take for granted. By doing so, Idaho’s Marriage Laws deny same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of marriage, relegating each couple to a stigmatized, second-class status. Plaintiffs suffer these injuries not because they are unqualified to marry, start a family, or grow old together, but because of who they are and whom they love.

The ruling is set to take effect this Friday, and the Governor of Idaho filed a request for a stay.

Read the full ruling here

An Idaho Libertarian Group uses a Billboard to link President Obama to James Holmes

This foolishness was created by The Ralph Smeed Foundation, a group of libertarians who think Obama should be held accountable for the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Why they chose this format to do it, I don't know.

Stupid is as Stupid does.

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Interesting Quote: Melissa Sue Robinson

"People are going to say I haven't been here long enough, but if you get me behind the mayor's desk I'm going to run this city. Right now, it's a good ol' boys club."

Melissa Sue Robinson is a transgendered woman running for mayor in Nampa, Idaho.


her story is here