A changing judicial landscape for gay rights (Thank you President Obama)

[Tx4obama]

A changing judicial landscape for gay rights

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The overturning of Virginia's gay marriage ban places the legal fight over same-sex unions increasingly in the hands of federal appeals courts shaped by President Barack Obama's two election victories.

It's no accident that Virginia has become a key testing ground for federal judges' willingness to embrace same-sex marriage after last year's strongly worded pro-gay rights ruling by the Supreme Court. Judges appointed by Democratic presidents have a 10-5 edge over Republicans on the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, formerly among the nation's most conservative appeals courts.

Nationally, three other federal appeals courts will soon take up the right of same-sex couples to marry, too, in Ohio, Colorado and California. The San Francisco-based 9th circuit is dominated by judges appointed by Democratic presidents. The Denver-based court, home of the 10th circuit, has shifted from a Republican advantage to an even split between the parties, while the 6th circuit, based in Cincinnati, remains relatively unchanged in favor of Republicans during Obama's tenure.

U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen's ruling Thursday, that same-sex couples in Virginia have the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals, represented the strongest advance in the South for advocates of gay marriage. She put her own ruling on hold while it is being appealed.

Jon Davidson of the gay rights group Lambda Legal said the "very dramatic" shift in the 4th circuit under Obama was an important reason behind the decision to sue for marriage rights in Virginia, which also twice voted for Obama.

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FULL article here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAY_MARRIAGE_COURTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-02-14-18-10-12

Be sure to read the full article, it's a really good one.

And when someone says that it doesn't matter who is in the White House remind them that it does make a huge difference when it is a Democratic president that is the one appointing federal judges

[sheshe2]

1. Thanks for this TX

"You don't want to presume that just because someone was nominated by one president they'd vote a particular way, but I think in the aggregate, Republican appointees are more likely to rule against same-sex marriage," Leong said.

But every judge who has decided a same-sex marriage case since last year's Supreme Court ruling has come down on the side of gay marriage and has drawn heavily on the high court's opinions.

Kick!

[Tx4obama]

2. And...

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Still, one consequence of Obama's two elections has been a change in the composition of the courts. Just over 60 percent of appellate judges were Republican appointees when Obama took office in January 2009, according to Brookings Institution scholar Russell Wheeler. Just over five years later, Democratic appointees hold more than half the seats on appeals courts - a transformation magnified by majority Democrats who changed Senate rules last year to make it harder for the minority party to block the president's nominees.

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Davidson, Lambda Legal's top lawyer, said, "People frequently don't appreciate the extent to which the president influences the composition of the courts. It is a remarkable thing about how elections have impact and this is one of the very dramatic ways you see it. There is a focus on the Supreme Court, but not on the lower courts."

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[sheshe2]

5. It's good news Tx! n/t

[RKP5637]

3. Thanks for having posted this! n/t

[DonViejo]

4. ^^ Yes, thanks for this Tx4Obama...

and you're very correct when you say, "read the full article, it's a really good one." Thx again!