Maryland Court rules AGAINST ban on same sex marriage

[WhereThereIsFire]

Calling it unconstitutional, a Baltimore Circuit Court (Judge M. Brooke Murdock) ruled that Maryland's statute banning same sex marriage could not withstand constitutional challenge. The ACLU and local attorneys collaborated on this successful challenge. Once again proving, as they did with the criminal charges against then-Vice-President Spiro Agnew, that Maryland (despite some rightwingnuts) IS the place that values the rights that made America great in the first place. Here's the link:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-marriage0120,1,2366119.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

[yellowcanine]

1. I hope this doesn't mean that Hairlick is able to exploit this to get his

right wing supporters to the polls this fall. Good decision but bad timing for Democrats.

[Tesha]

3. Yeah, it always sucks to be put in the position of actually having to...

Yeah, it always sucks to be put in the position of actually having to
live up to your espoused values.

(Have you noticed? It's *ALWAYS* a bad time to give anyone the basic
human rights and dignity that they deserve.)

Tesha

[yellowcanine]

6. I am in favor of the decision whenever it occurs. It was just an honest

observation that knowing Erlich, he won't hesitate to exploit this and demogogue it to fire up the wing nuts and help his election prospects. That said, I will not vote for any Democrat who tries to "distance himself" from this decision.

[gratuitous]

5. What don't Republicans try to exploit?

I mean, if Republicans will lie about efforts to "ban" the Bible, they'll lie about anything. Democrats can use this court decision to stand up for the principle that "equal justice under the law" means just that: Everyone has rights, not just the wealthy, not just the well-connected, not just the popular folks. Everyone has rights, and a society that arbitrarily draws a line that terminates some people's rights today just might draw another line tomorrow that puts you on the wrong side.

And Democrats stand for a society that extends its rights and benefits to everyone.

[deutsey]

2. Aside from Ehrlich, I'm very proud to live in Maryland

Fair share health, the Dems overriding other Ehrlich vetos, and now this...

:thumbsup:

[mom cat]

4. Fantastic...This is why we must fight Alito. We need to fight for the

courts and the constitution!

[WhereThereIsFire]

7. When Dems take control ... need to increase # on Supreme Court

There is no rule that says the supremes must stay at 9. Roosevelt was unable to get it "packed" as the Republicans like to phrase it. But, when we again have a majority in congress AND control the Presidency, we should up it to 12 and let our side be fairly represented. This is the same way I feel about the congress, we haven't added members in about 100 years, though the population has vastly increased. We need to have about 100 more members of congress to be fairly represented there too.

[mom cat]

8. We got to fight the fight that is on our plat now. I also agree with you,

but we can't wait that long. If we all devote this weekend to flooding the Senate, we have a good shot at it. The tide is turning .

[WhereThereIsFire]

9. Much as I'd like to see scAlito knocked out ... I think ...

it is almost a lost cause and we will see him seated. I think he is a criminal (just like Scalia and others the repugs have placed on the court) but that isn't going to get him booted. I'd say this one is a done deal and our great-great grandkids are going to suffer the consequences (like all of us from now til he departs ... 30 years from now?) I can only hope that one of these nominations (Roberts or Alito) turns out better than expected. Some presidents have been surprised by how "their" judges ended up voting. I think Scalito is a true dimwit (barely brighter than boooshie) but Roberts "possibly" could be more of a loose cannon. Then ... I could be totally wrong and both could be true nutcases.

[mom cat]

10. The tide is turning and we have a chance. Just keep up the pressure.