A federal judge in Louisiana on Wednesday ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional, marking the first time a trial judge has sided against gay marriage advocates since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last summer.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman wrote that Louisiana had the “more persuasive argument” in the fight over a “passionately charged national issue.” He acknowledged that he was breaking from many of his peers in the federal judiciary, writing:
This court has arduously studied the volley of nationally orchestrated court rulings against states whose voters chose in free and open elections, whose legislatures, after a robust, even fractious debate and exchange of competing, vigorously differing views, listened to their citizens regarding the harshly divisive and passionate issue on same-sex marriage. The federal court decisions thus far exemplify a pageant of empathy; decisions impelled by a response of innate pathos. Courts that, in the words of Justice [Antonin] Scalia in a different context in Bond v. United States … appear to have assumed the mantle of a legislative body.The state’s ban on same-sex marriage and a separate ban on the recognition of same-sex couples legally married in other jurisdictions did not violate the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the Constitution, Feldman wrote. Feldman was appointed to the federal bench in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.
Federal trial courts across the country and the U.S. courts of appeals for the Fourth and Tenth circuits have struck down state bans on same-sex marriage over the past year, citing the Supreme Court's June 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor.
Feldman isn’t completely alone, though–he quoted from dissenting judges in the 2-1 decisions from the two federal appeals courts to rule on the issue so far.
The Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, has yet to weigh in. A case challenging Texas’ ban is already being briefed before that court. by Zoe Tillman, National Law Journal
Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202668802846/Louisiana-Federal-Judge-First-to-Uphold-SameSex-Marriage-Ban#ixzz3CMBCifV0
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman wrote that Louisiana had the “more persuasive argument” in the fight over a “passionately charged national issue.” He acknowledged that he was breaking from many of his peers in the federal judiciary, writing:
This court has arduously studied the volley of nationally orchestrated court rulings against states whose voters chose in free and open elections, whose legislatures, after a robust, even fractious debate and exchange of competing, vigorously differing views, listened to their citizens regarding the harshly divisive and passionate issue on same-sex marriage. The federal court decisions thus far exemplify a pageant of empathy; decisions impelled by a response of innate pathos. Courts that, in the words of Justice [Antonin] Scalia in a different context in Bond v. United States … appear to have assumed the mantle of a legislative body.The state’s ban on same-sex marriage and a separate ban on the recognition of same-sex couples legally married in other jurisdictions did not violate the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the Constitution, Feldman wrote. Feldman was appointed to the federal bench in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.
Federal trial courts across the country and the U.S. courts of appeals for the Fourth and Tenth circuits have struck down state bans on same-sex marriage over the past year, citing the Supreme Court's June 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor.
Feldman isn’t completely alone, though–he quoted from dissenting judges in the 2-1 decisions from the two federal appeals courts to rule on the issue so far.
The Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, has yet to weigh in. A case challenging Texas’ ban is already being briefed before that court. by Zoe Tillman, National Law Journal
Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202668802846/Louisiana-Federal-Judge-First-to-Uphold-SameSex-Marriage-Ban#ixzz3CMBCifV0
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