A judge upheld Puerto Rico’s ban on gay marriage on Monday, becoming the first Democratic-appointed federal jurist to rule against same-sex couples’ right to wed since the Supreme Court axed the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.
Carter-appointed Judge Juan Manuel Pérez-Giménez ruled that the Windsor v. U.S. opinion did not pave the way for same-sex marriage, contradicting all but one other federal trial judge who has reviewed the issue since the landmark ruling.
“The Windsor opinion did not create a fundamental right to same-gender marriage nor did it establish that state opposite-gender marriage regulations are amenable to federal constitutional challenges,” Pérez-Giménez wrote. “If anything, Windsor stands for the opposite proposition: it reaffirms the States’ authority over marriage, buttressing Baker’s conclusion that marriage is simply not a federal question.”
More than a dozen federal judges on the district and appellate level have struck down gay marriage bans as unconstitutional, citing Windsor to argue that they amount to impermissible discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Pérez-Giménez took a swipe at those judges.
“It takes inexplicable contortions of the mind or perhaps even willful ignorance – this Court does not venture an answer here – to interpret Windsor’s endorsement of the state control of marriage as eliminating the state control of marriage,” he wrote.
His opinion speaks, nay shrieks, for itself. Shouldn’t be too hard to overrule on appeal.
Someone’s cranky. Probably ready for a nap.
A nice long one.
apparently, he’s never heard of the US Constitution. who’s he trying to please, with an opinion that stands zero chance of sustention on appeal?
Now that every single reason given by opponents of same-sex marriage to “justify” discrimination against same-sex couples has been shot down as nonsense (“will destroy the institution of marriage”, “marriage is all about children”), attempts to enforce religious beliefs, or irrelevant and ignorant appeals to history (“it has always been one man and one woman”), Judge Pérez-Giménez has cycled back to arguing that there doesn’t have to be any justification for the discrimination.
But, only in a legal sense. He couldn’t help going for the nonsense and irrelevant/ignorant appeals to history justifications in his conclusion:
“Well-tested, well-proven”? Can we get Bill Nye over here for quick Fundamentals of Science lesson?
Juan Manuel Pérez-Giménez is off base here…Thank God the Appeals Court will overturn his stupidity.