U.S. Supreme Court will Hear Two Oral Arguments
On January 7, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the challenge to California’s Proposition 8 Hollingsworth v.Perry, the constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage on March 26, and on March 27, it will listen to oral arguments in U.S. v. Windsor, the ACLU’s case challenging the constitutionality of DOMA which denies federal recognition to same-sex couples’ marriages. The court has scheduled only one hour’s worth of arguments each day. However, justices can extend the time allotted to arguments in each case.
The nine Supreme Court Justices involved in these cases are: John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Broyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayer, and Elena Kagan.
The Proposition 8 Case
The Justices will be considering if Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In November 2008, the ballot initiative banning gay marriage in California was passed by popular vote.
AFER,the American Foundation for Equal Rights, filed the lawsuit against Proposition 8 on behalf of two couples: Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo and Sandy Belzer Stier and Kris Perry. In February 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declared the law unconstitutional and this ruling was then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The couples will be represented ironically by” hotshot” lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies. These lawyers were adversaries in the 2000 Bush vs. Gore case, resulting in GeorgeW. Bush becoming the U.S. President. Boies and Olson have argued over 170 cases in the Supreme Court and have winnings in the Federal District Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Eleven California couples are hoping for the Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8.
The Doma (Defense of Marriage Act) Challenge
Federal appeals courts in New York and Boston had ruled that the law is unconstitutional. The Republican leadership of the House of Representatives appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court Justices agreed to hear the case of Edith Windsor, a Manhattan native. Windsor, legally married in Canada, is suing the federal government because they do not recognize her same-sex marriage to her late wife Thea Spyer.
Because DOMA does not allow the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex marriages (even in states where gay marriages are legal), couples cannot file joint federal tax returns or receive survivor benefits if one spouse dies. In 1996, DOMA was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President William Clinton. Windsor has sued because she was required to pay a $350,000 federal estate tax bill on Spyer’s estate.
All nine justices could participate in this case. It only takes four votes to hear a case.
Justice Kennedy believed to be the Fulcrum
Justice Kennedy authored the Lawrence v. Texas ruling that struck down state anti-sodomy laws in 2003 so he is expected to proceed on a course that is favorable to gays and lesbians. However, as much as homosexuals may want him to bring marriage equality to the entire country either by resorting to the fundamental right to marry or deeming sexual orientation a suspect classification, the March outcomes may have more limited victories.