What?s the Best Road to Equal Marriage Rights?

The First Circuit decision in Gill was a rather reluctant offering, tethered to states?-rights claims that may prove appealing to at least one of the court?s conservatives?especially Anthony Kennedy?but unlikely to advance the original project of superlawyers David Boies and Ted Olson of making same-sex marriage a federal constitutional right. Judge Reinhardt had already done a version of that trick, back when he narrowed Judge Walker?s Prop 8 ruling to apply only to California, and only to cases that looked like Romer. As ?bmaz? at EmptyWheel lays it out, ?by having both Perry and the 1^st Circuit DOMA rely on the Romer paradigm, the main thrust of LGBT litigation is now set up under a states rights analysis as opposed to full equal protection status across the board and uniformly nationwide. While many of the experts, pundits and lay people closely watching these cases may be cheering today, it seems a tad hollow. This is not the posture that Vaughn Walker worked so hard to put in place, the posture that the affected citizens deserve.?

pau gasol marlins park marbury v. madison 2013 lincoln mkz burger king mary j blige google project glass google goggles