Interesting Quote: Justice Ginsburg

[Same-sex couples] wouldn’t be asking for this relief if the law of marriage was what it was a millennium ago. I mean, it wasn’t possible. Same-sex unions would not have opted into the pattern of marriage, which was a relationship, a dominant and a subordinate relationship. Yes, it was marriage between a man and a woman, but the man decided where the couple would be domiciled; it was her obligation to follow him. There was a change in the institution of marriage to make it egalitarian when it wasn’t egalitarian. And same-sex unions wouldn’t — wouldn’t fit into what marriage was once.

Justice Ginsburg goes in on the case against gay marriage.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Abortion, Race and the Broken Congress

American Family Association (Hate Group) wants Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Recuse from the Marriage Case

This is from their press release:

The issue of same-sex marriage in America has divided the country this past year, with state, district and federal courts issuing ruling after ruling.

In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear the issue, American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) says Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should recuse themselves from making any same-sex marriage decisions because they have both conducted same-sex marriage ceremonies.

“Both of these justices’ personal and private actions that actively endorse gay marriage clearly indicate how they would vote on same-sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Congress has directed that federal judicial officers must disqualify themselves from hearing cases in specified circumstances. Both Kagan and Ginsburg have not only been partial to same-sex marriage but they have also proven themselves to be activists in favor of it. In order to ensure the Court’s integrity and impartiality, both should recuse themselves from same-sex marriage cases. Congress has an obligation to Americans to see that members of the Supreme Court are held to the highest standards of integrity. The law demands it, and the people deserve it.”

AFA sent an Action Alert to its one million-plus supporters, asking them to write a letter to their members of Congress, urging them to remind members of the nation’s highest court of their charge to maintain impartiality. Title 28, Part I, Chapter 21, Section 455 of the U.S. Code titled “Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge,” states that “Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

Whatever

Interesting Quote: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Who do you think President Obama could appoint at this very day, given the boundaries that we have? If I resign any time this year, he could not successfully appoint anyone I would like to see in the court. [The Senate ...] took off the filibuster for lower federal court appointments, but it remains for this court. So anybody who thinks that if I step down, Obama could appoint someone like me, they’re misguided. As long as I can do the job full steam…. I think I’ll recognize when the time comes that I can’t any longer. But now I can.

Justice Ginsburg on resigning while President Obama is in office.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Watch the 6th Circult on Gay Marriage

Curious about how the Supreme Court might weigh in on the gay marriage bans? Follow the actions of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Here's more:

Ginsburg said cases pending before the circuit covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee would probably play a role in the high court’s timing. She said “there will be some urgency” if that appeals court allows same-sex marriage bans to stand. Such a decision would run contrary to a legal trend favoring gay marriage and force the Supreme Court to step in sooner, she predicted.

She said if the appeals panel falls in line with other rulings there is “no need for us to rush.”

Ginsburg didn’t get into the merits of any particular case or any state’s gay marriage ban, but she marveled at the “remarkable” shift in public perception of same-sex marriage that she attributes to gays and lesbians being more open about their relationships.

Same-sex couples can legally wed in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Bans that have been overturned in some other states continue to make their way through the courts.

“Having people close to us who say who they are – that made the attitude change in this country,” Ginsburg said at the University of Minnesota Law School.

This is getting good, folks.

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Pic of the Day

And Hell is Ruth Bader Ginsburg

SCOTUS First: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will Officiate a Gay Wedding

This is cool.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate a gay marriage ceremony of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser and his partner John Roberts. The wedding will take place at the performing arts center in DC.

Justice Ginsburg will be the first member of the Supreme Court to do this.

In an interview in the Washington Post, she said:

“I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship. It won’t be long before there will be another.”

Again, this is very cool.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: DOMA may go before the Supreme Court by Next Year

Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells folks at University of Colorado in Boulder that DOMA may be on the Supreme Court's docket next year.

HuffPo reports:

She was asked a student-submitted question about the equal-protection clause and whether the nation's high court would consider it applying to sexual orientation.

Ginsburg said with a smile that she couldn't answer the question. She said she could not talk about matters that would come to the court, and that the Defense of Marriage Act would probably be up soon.

"I think it's most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term," she said.

If you don't know, DOMA's oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 27.