"-30-"

No, that's not the end of the story. In this case, it's the number of states in which same-sex marriage is now legal, after a surprise decision yesterday afternoon by Judge Tim Burgess on a suit brought by five couples in Alaska. The surprise is not the result -- that was pretty much a given -- but the speed with which the decision was handed down:

U.S. District Court Judge Tim Burgess issued a summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs arguing that Alaska's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, just two days after their case began to be heard in court Friday.

In a 25-page order, Burgess held that the state constitution -- amended by voters in 1998 to define marriage as between a man and a woman -- violates provisions in the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing both due process and equal protection under the law.

Gov. Sean Parnell (who is facing an election) will appeal. Good luck with that -- Alaska is under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, which threw out Prop 8 and last week threw out marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada.

And of course, Alaska's local AFA/FRC clone is up in arms:

Jim Minnery, the executive director of Alaska Family Action, blasted Sunday's ruling and said it was in defiance of 1998 voters' popular will.

“What has happened with Judge Burgess and across the country really, it's a subversion of the democratic process,” Minnery said. “It's really a shame to see these legally enacted (bans), in many cases upwards of 70, 75 percent of the people, being overruled by a guy in a black robe -- it's sad, but we're far from over on this issue.”

Point: Oh, this issue is over. You just don't like the way it played out.

And second point: Have you noticed how the right tries so hard to ignore the Constitution? Except, of course, for the Second Amendment.

Via Box Turtle Bulletin.

Here's the decision:

3:14-cv-00089 #38 by Equality Case Files