Breaking: SCOTUS Justice Alito Denies County Clerk Request -- Pennsylvania Marriage Secured

[7962]

Last edited Wed Jul 9, 2014, 10:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: civil rights movement.com

Conservative Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito has just denied a request by a county clerk to halt the marriages of same-sex couples in Pennsylvania, effectively securing marriage equality in the Keystone State.
Theresa Santai-Gaffney a Schuylkill county clerk had petitioned Justice Samuel Alito -- who oversees Pennsylvania as part of his assigned region, the 3rd Circuit -- to halt same-sex marriage in the Keystone State. Moments ago Justice Alito, one of the Court's more conservative members, denied her request.

ETA: BETTER LINK-- http://www.abc27.com/story/25980071/alito-denies-pa-clerks-bid-to-halt-gay-marriage
Thanks to PoliticAverse for providing it

Read more: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/breaking_scotus_justice_alito_denies_county_clerk_request_pennsylvania_marriage_secured

[hack89]

1. Good. Nt

[randys1]

2. The person making the request must really hate Gay people

think about the length she and those like her are willing to go to show their hate

[itsrobert]

31. Her Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Theresa-Santai-Gaffney/197419953617559

[markpkessinger]

37. She's getting hammered in comments on her page . . .

. . . and quite deservedly so!

[itsrobert]

39. yup. she is on the wrong side of history

And she is probably starting to realize it.

[LoisB]

43. "Yipee Skippy"????

[PoliticAverse]

3. “I hope that the Court will ultimately permit the people of each State to decide this question for

themselves" - Alito in June 2013.

[defacto7]

25. Utah appeals gay marriage to the Supreme Court next week.

Utah is what we have to look out for.

[longship]

4. The dominoes are all lined up.

When one falls, they all do.

And Alito, no less.

[cerveza_gratis]

26. hopeful omen for when all the other state cases reach the supreme court

[iandhr]

5. A broke clock is right twice a day.

[Stuart G]

18. Yes, I agree completely with what you have said....no text

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. I applaud his decision; but ...

have little faith he will stick to it.

I suspect that the bunches of recent petitions will provide the parameters of Hobby Lobby. And I suspect that it'll come down to "deeply held religious conviction" pertaining to a corporation will pass his muster; otherwise, no.

[markpkessinger]

38. I'm not so sure . . .

See my post downthread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=843024 . The Hobby Lobby ruling was about throwing a bone to the religious right, as part of a strategy of maintaining their electoral support for the GOP more broadly. But none of the five conservatives on the court is a religious ideologue. With the gay marriage issue, those five justices know full well that the tide of public opinion has shifted quite markedly, and that they will ultimately damage the broader conservative movement if they rule against it.

[leftyohiolib]

6. somene pleas can i have nelson muntz!

ha-ha

[William769]

7. Nothing shows up at the link for me.

[PoliticAverse]

8. Here's another article on the issue...

http://www.abc27.com/story/25980071/alito-denies-pa-clerks-bid-to-halt-gay-marriage

[William769]

9. Thanks!

[7962]

32. Thanks. Didnt know the link wouldnt work; I'm adding yours to the OP

[Cryptoad]

10. I love it

Our Constitution always working as intended ..... what an amazing dynamic document!

[bluestateguy]

11. Activist liberal judge, legislating from the bench!

[Fred M]

12. ALITO???

Maybe I should go to the asteroid bunker...

[RoBear]

15. hehehe

[calimary]

20. Icicles sighted at the gates of Hell?

Well, how 'bout that.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

29. Glaciers.

Solid ice, miles thick.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. Rather surprised he didn't take the opportunity to take another

at bat on this topic.

Great news.

[dballance]

14. I guess the blowback from the Hobby Lobby decision has set in.

Alito is the best friend of corporations.

I'm thoroughly surprised he probably gave his decision based upon the precedent of the DOMA case. I'm surprised he didn't contort logic and precedent into fashioning an outcome more to his narrow-minded liking.

I am guessing the outrage from the Hobby Lobby ruling might have had some effect upon his decision.

[The Green Manalishi]

16. I think that states rights overrides EVERYTHING for him

[dballance]

19. We fought the "States Rights" war quite a while ago c. 1861-1865

The states that wanted to exercise "states rights" lost the war.

Too bad the Union didn't hang every one of the traitors. They should have hung every officer in the Confederacy and every politician in the Confederacy for treason.

Lincoln was far too accommodating.

[7962]

33. Lincoln knew that would probably destroy the Union. He made the right choice.

[PuppyBismark]

17. Time Out! She was denied a request for standing in the case, not the appeal on same sex weddings

If you read the linked article, you will see she was trying to get standing in the case as the Pennsylvania State Governor decided not to appeal. This does not mean that Alito would not support an actual appeal of the same sex marriages decisions that have been made across the country.

Per the article:

Gov. Tom Corbett's administration declined to appeal Jones' decision, prompting Santai-Gaffney's attempt to intervene. Her efforts to suspend Jones' decision while she tries to achieve standing in the case were rebuffed by Jones and a federal appellate court.

[blkmusclmachine]

21. ^This.^

[elleng]

42. Thanks. The fact that cases are often decided

on procedural issues is often overlooked.

[msongs]

23. it's a sop. we "get" marriage equality, they "get" to religiously discriminate everywhere else nt

[rickyhall]

24. I think he shows his true colors

He's not conservative he's a corporate shill. Corporations have nothing to gain by outlawing same sex marriage.

[onehandle]

27. Alito is a Rat!

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I'll go back and read the OP.

[LynnTTT]

28. Dont get excited

Without reading the decision, it probably just means that the clerk does not have legal standing to decide not to enforce the law.

[7962]

34. But it still stops her. The law prevented her from doing it. I'd bet even Scalia would've denied.

And the fact that she was denied with no comment is a bit of a slap too. Like he just ignored her. IMO, anyway

[Cha]

30. Thank you, 7962!

[sheshe2]

35. KnR

[markpkessinger]

36. My theory about Alito and the other four conservatives

None of them is actually a religious ideologue. They will throw a bone to religious conservatives here and there (such as the Hobby Lobby ruling), purely as a means of maintaining the religious right as a source of votes, but in the end they really don't give a shit about that constituency. The only constituency they actually care about is the corporate constituency. Thus, with an issue like this one, they know that public opinion has shifted on gay marriage, and that by ruling against it, they will serve only to damage the broader conservative movement. It's all very, very calculated.

[1StrongBlackMan]

40. I can get with that reasoning ...

but how are they going to maintain that constituency in the face of all the petitions and cases winding their way through the lower courts.

[DFW]

41. Stupid county clerk. She could have gotten her way in one simple move

All she had to do was incorporate.

Theresa Santai-Gaffney is no one the Supreme Court cares about.

Theresa Santai-Gaffney, INC., however----ahhhh, that would have been a different story entirely.
Good thing for marriage equality that right wingers seldom read the news (those that can read at all, that is).