MPSL VLog: The Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on February 15, 2012 by | 4 Comments

Lawsuits across the country challenge bans to same-sex marriage.  In California, a federal court of appeal issued a narrow ruling that would allow same-sex marriage. Professor Gaffaney explains.

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4 responses to “MPSL VLog: The Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage”

  1. Rachel Shin | December 5, 2012 at 9:40 pm | Reply

    I am a christian and I’m against same-sex marriage. People might argue that it is violating the first amendment but I think that it is also violating the the regulation of the bible. US has been know to be a religious country. Even though the US government doesn’t prosecute people of different religion, I think the US government needs to strongly draw a line between what is good and what is bad for out country. Marriage is between a man and a woman and like what the majority has voted in the election, I think that the same-sex marriage should be banned once and for all. Many people agree with the courts decision on trying to find loopholes in this issue but I think it’s unfair that they are trying to bend a law that has already been made.

  2. John Robert Balagtas | December 10, 2012 at 2:59 am | Reply

    I believe that citizens have the constitutional right to marry any consenting adult, including same-sex adults. America has been torn in two regarding the issue of same-sex marriage. Many argue that, since their religion forbids and admonish same-sex marriage, that it should be federal law to forbid it as well. The government cannot enact such a law because it would unconstitutional. If the government does enact a law stating the ban on same-sex marriage; like prop 8, then the citizens can appeal to the courts to overturn this law. This issue has now found its way to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United Stated Judicial system. The ruling of the Supreme Court will impact this issue greatly. It can either uphold the law to ban same-sex marriage and all the lower courts will then be forced to ban it as well. Or, The Supreme Court can revoke this ban, making same-sex marriage a recognizable right across the nation.

  3. Olivia Avila | December 10, 2012 at 3:27 am | Reply

    I almost want to say yes, public opinion has a place in the federal courts when considering a case, but at the same time, we would very much like to keep the courts as clear cut as possible. It’s very tempting to want to have public opinion included, since of course different time eras have an impact on the way we (as a society) do things. It’s unfortunate that many people would rather have a country ran on religion than on the written law and on the constitution. According to the First Amendment in the Constitution, “…Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” (Pg. 103). It seems very simple from there that one would be able to say that we are a country free from a specific religion, and we may even be able to say that it is against our “civil liberties” that we recognize a religion (even Christianity) because it would be ruled unconstitutional. To use this as the reason or basis of an argument that this is a reason to NOT allow same sex marriage is absurd and I feel may in fact be a civil liberties issue, besides against the law. I am very glad that the Courts have agreed to hear the cases on same sex marriage because I believe against the Defense of Marriage Act that was passed in 1996. (Pg. 175). This act allows for states to decide whether they honor same sex marriage or not that occurred in another state. If the federal government would rule, then it might make this reversed. Although through this “Act” we are saying this is a state issue, so by making this a federal issue, it may in fact make the Defense of marriage act void. Which it’s pretty illegal to me from where I stand to begin with.

  4. Karina Alonso | December 17, 2012 at 1:26 am | Reply

    Ch. 14- Mr. Falcon

    I don’t belive that this should be an issue of public opinion. I am not opposed to same sex marriage, in fact I believe since this is a free country that any adult should be able to marry whomever they choose. In a case like this the Federal Court should just follow the constitution and resepect our amendments “right to freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of expression”. The public will always have their own opinions (which they are completely entitled to) but they won’t exactly benefit all citizens, being that there are so many different religions and so many different beliefs. It wouldn’t be fair for those people to have those rights of excercising their religion and special rituals taken away, so why take someone elses right away only because their religion disagrees with it. I understand same sex marriage is a big deal in the church, but this country is not runned by religion it is ran by laws, and there are rights that should be respected. Bottom line there is no legal reasoning for the supreme court to decide to oppose same sex marriage.

    Karina Alonso
    0707694

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