My vote for most iconic sign outside the Supreme Court this morning goes to “DEAR SCALIA: Y.O.L.O. #scotusyoloO.”
I confess I sought the sign out because I’d noticed it in my Instagram feed earlier in the morning and thought it was funny. Memes are funny. Youthful insouciance is (sometimes) funny. The notion that Antonin Scalia might just toss out DOMA and Prop 8 because YOLO, then maybe go march in a pride parade is very funny.
But on a deeper level, it struck me as a meaningful artifact of the cultural moment we’re witnessing. Read More
Assume that the Supreme Court were to decline to reach the merits of Prop 8 on the grounds that the parties defending the same-sex marriage ban lack proper standing — what’s the practical effect?
Here’s how Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog assesses it: Read More
Sahil Kapur has our initial report from the Supreme Court. The standing issue got a lot of attention. The questioning on the merits suggested a closely divided court.
Oral arguments in the Prop 8 case were scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET and last one hour. TPM’s Sahil Kapur is in attendance. Look for his report shortly after the proceedings conclude.
Late Update: SCOTUSblog tweets:
Breaking: 1st update- #prop8 unlikely to be upheld; either struck down or #scotus won’t decide case. More in 30 mins.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) March 26, 2013
Unless this historically conservative Supreme Court pulls off a shocker and finds a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, we seem almost certainly headed toward a series of state-by-state skirmishes over the issue, which creates its own set of political risks and rewards.
While the speed with which public opinion has shifted on the issue is remarkable and the momentum (to extent there is such as thing as momentum in politics) seems to be on the side of gay rights advocates, a Supreme Court decision to kick the matter to the states essentially preserves the status quo. As you can see from this map, the status quo isn’t that great if you’re a non-coastal gay couple: Read More
TPM Reporter Sahil Kapur caught up with Rob Reiner and former RNC chair Ken Mehlman waiting in line outside the Court this morning for today’s oral arguments and filed this quick report …
I just caught up with Rob Reiner and former RNC chair Ken Mehlman, both strong marriage equality supporters, at the front of the line before Supreme Court arguments on Prop 8.
“I’m looking forward to a great argument by Ted Olson who I know has done this many, many times and we feel really confident that he’s going to hit on all the points we need him to hit on, Reiner said. As for the national change in public opinion, he said, “The winds are starting to shift.”
Fresh on the heels of war threats from Georgia the Tennessee state legislature was gripped yesterday in a Sharia scare over a feared Muslim foot washing sink.
A bit earlier we flagged this sort of weird story where Georgia (the US state of Georgia in case John McCain gets any bright ideas) is making a claim on a tiny sliver of Tennessee. And as usually happens, when we dip into a new story at least one reader writes in who understands the issue in great detail. In this case it’s TPM Reader JM …
Some background might be helpful for this Georgia goes to war with Tennessee thing. As a Georgia resident and someone who has been involved behind the scenes with this resolution’s crafting and advancement, what looks far-fetched at a glance is actually surprisingly substantive when examined. I’ve tacked on the official white paper that details this in much better depth but – speaking as someone who was very skeptical at first – I honestly can suggest there is a concrete legal argument buried in there.
As we head into tomorrow’s Supreme Court hearing on Prop 8, check out the map.