O'Connor performs same-sex wedding at high court

[Tx4obama]

Source: The AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has officiated at the wedding of a gay couple at the Supreme Court, at least the second such ceremony at the court since its June decision that expanded federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says O'Connor presided over the private ceremony Tuesday in the court's lawyers' lounge for Jeffrey Trammell and Stuart Serkin of Washington.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiated at a weekend ceremony at the court in which two New Yorkers, including a former Ginsburg student at Columbia Law School, were married. Ginsburg has officiated at three same-sex weddings.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_SAME_SEX_WEDDINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[gopiscrap]

1. Excellent good for her!!!

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Oooo, that will have Scalia

Thomas, et al, breaking out the 55 gallon drums of cootie-repellant.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

3. WOW!

The old girl stepped up. Good for her.

[SunSeeker]

4. I wish she hadn't retired and left an open seat for Bush to fill with that shitstain Alito. nt

[former9thward]

5. She has stated she did not want to retire.

But her husband's mental condition was deteriorating rapidly and she wanted to spend time with him.

[SunSeeker]

11. Sadly, he didn't recognize her, and was in love with another woman by the time Alito was appointed.

“A new page in O’Connors’ love story” would seem just about the most euphemistic headline that USA Today could have written today about the fact that the husband of Sandra Day O’Connor, the former Supreme Court justice, has fallen in love with someone else.

No, he didn’t leave her in some messy divorce or tawdry love triangle, and no, she’s not mad, even though she retired from the court in 2005 because it was “time now to spend time with my husband.” In fact, her son told a local television station in Arizona, where they own a home, that “Mom was thrilled that Dad was relaxed and happy.”

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/alzheimers-love-and-the-ex-supreme-court-justice/?_r=0


Yes, O'Connor was an incredibly devoted wife, but a big reason for her retirement was likely political, as her son has stated.

Aside from Justice O'Connor's personal concerns, her son said that political calculations were almost certainly at play in her decision to step down. In a week consumed with speculation about whether the ailing Justice Rehnquist would retire, Justice O'Connor waited until Friday to announce her plans.

Brian O'Connor said he did not know whether his mother had put off resigning out of deference to a possible Rehnquist departure or whether the two old friends had consulted.

"There's no telling who will be our next president, and I just think, like so many of her decisions, it just kind of made sense," her son said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/02/politics/politicsspecial1/02decision.html

I think she just feared she could not make it through 8 years of what increasingly looked like a Democratic administration come 2008. If she waited too long, she risked being replaced by a Democrat. She had health problems of her own, it wasn't just an issue of her husband's health. Lawyers appearing before the Court quickly noticed her tremors when she spoke from the bench. Her head, voice and hands shook, and it became quite noticeable at least as far back as 2001, although she always insisted she was in good health.

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2001/02/26/bench.html

But I agree with you, she did not want to retire. I think she now regrets her decision. Just like she regrets her decision in Bush v. Gore.

[Javaman]

6. still trying to cleanse her soul.

she fucked up in Gore v bush* and knows it.

while this is a great thing for her to do, it still doesn't remove the stain by which she allowed this country to be set back decades.

think of it this way, if Gore had been rightly elected, as he was, think of all the anti-gay bullshit that we wouldn't have had to deal with because moron* was selected.

So okay she does this one good thing does that suddenly make me want to forgive her for totally fucking over this nation with her vote to install george w. moron*?

fuck no.

[Thucydides]

7. I concur and agree!

[Arugula Latte]

9. Yep. Her legacy is forever tarnished

and she will go down in history as the swing vote that legitimized a coup d'etat.

[Botany]

10. If not for bush V Gore we would not have had:

9-11
War in Afghanistan
War in Iraq
The Gulf of Mexico turned into an oil slick
a surplus turned into a deficit
spying
torture
the big branch mine disaster .... W put the head of Massey Energy in charge of mine safety
and warning after warning was blown off
Dick Cheney getting rich on an unneeded war
doing nothing about climate change
tax cuts for the rich
unfunded medicare part D thing
Ohio 2004
Don Siegleman in jail
Dick Cheney shooting a man in the face after drinking and getting away with it
a huge kill of wild run west coast salmon
and so much more .... you are right Sandy Day knows she fucked up and is trying
to change her place in history

[SunSeeker]

12. Yes, she recently expressed her regret for Bush v. Gore. She knows she fucked up.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/05/sandra-day-oconnor-shift-on-bush-v-gore.html

[Javaman]

13. well bully for her...

this is the one time in history where "it's easier to apologize then get permission" fails miserably.

fuck her.

[onehandle]

8. So are we ok with O'Connor and Cheney because of gay marriage?

I'm not. Fuck them.

[William769]

14. Kick & recommended.

[closeupready]

15. okay. I'll K&R, for nothing else than this demonstrates

how much society has changed, and how even conservatives can be shown how lies about minorities harm them fundamentally, and in a way that stands in opposition to what America is all about.