"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Monday, January 06, 2014

Marriage News Watch, January 6, 2014 (Update, Update II)

Utah is getting really bizarre:


As of this morning, the state of Utah has filed a reply brief to the plaintiff's brief opposing a stay. I'm not going to comment on it -- it's pretty much a mess, which, as Joe Jervis right points out, amounts to "Oh, yes it is, so there!" starting by largely ignoring the 14th Amendment issues, and relying heavily on Baker v. Nelson, a case from 1972 which most courts consider to have been superseded.

Via Joe.My.God.

Update: The full Supreme Court has issued a stay on Judge Shelby's order.

The Supreme Court on Monday blocked further same-sex marriages in Utah while state officials appeal a decision allowing such unions.

The terse order, from the full court, issued a stay “pending final disposition” of an appeal to the federal appeals court in Denver. It offered no reasoning.

I don't doubt that it offered no reasoning. I doubt that any reasoning would have stood up to scrutiny -- even rational basis.

Update II:
And right on cue, here's Brian Brown of NOM, hysterical rhetoric and all, applauding a Supreme Court decision which says, essentially, nothing. (And getting all the facts of the matter wrong, where he bothers with them at all.) (I really had a hard time deciding whether to post this here or in the previous post -- Brown is starting to fit right in with the crazies.)

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