Kentucky has better racing and horses and politicians than NY and Andrew Cuomo?
News
Gay Marriage Ruling Pressures Supreme Court
Appellate Decision Breaks With Other Courts That Invalidated State Bans
Will the Supreme Court soon hear
arguments on gay marriage? WSJ's Jess Bravin joins Tanya Rivero to
discuss if a federal ruling has set up the High Court to step in. Photo:
Getty
The 2-1 ruling, from a panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, breaks with other courts that recently struck down state bans on gay unions. Until Thursday no federal appeals court had upheld a law barring same-sex marriage, following the Supreme Court’s June 2013 ruling in U.S. v. Windsor striking down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of federal benefits for same-sex married couples.
The high court in October passed up the chance to review several rulings invalidating marriage bans in a number of states, in part, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said, because there was no conflict in the lower courts to resolve. Disagreement between federal appeals courts is a main reason the Supreme Court steps in to resolve a legal issue.
Thursday’s ruling allows Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee to continue enforcing constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.
ENLARGE
Gay marriage supporters march from the Potter Stewart U.S.
Courthouse Aug. 6, 2014 in Cincinnati. A divided Cincinnati-based U.S.
appeals court on Thursday upheld bans on same-sex marriage in four
states.
Associated Press
“Michigan’s constitution remains in full effect,” said state Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican. “As I have stated repeatedly, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word on this issue. The sooner they rule, the better, for Michigan and the country,” he said.
A spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said, “The governor agrees with and supports the court’s decision.”
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, in a statement, said, “I expect the plaintiffs to appeal this ruling quickly, and I urge the Supreme Court to take up this issue.”
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said: “The state has maintained that its democratically enacted marriage laws do not violate constitutional rights. We are gratified that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has now essentially agreed.”
ENLARGE
Judge Jeffrey Sutton, writing for the majority, said that while nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage seemed inevitable, it wasn’t the courts’ job to hasten it.
“Better in this instance, we think, to allow change through the customary political processes, in which the people, gay and straight alike, become the heroes of their own stories by meeting each other not as adversaries in a court system but as fellow citizens seeking to resolve a new social issue,” Judge Sutton wrote.
Governments “got into the business of defining marriage,” he wrote, “to handle the natural effects of male-female intercourse: children.” By legally binding fathers and mothers, the state promoted “stable relationships within which children may flourish.”
Other courts have rejected that argument, finding that denying same-sex couples and their children the legal benefits of marriage has no demonstrable advantage for heterosexual couples.
In dissent, Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey said the plaintiffs “are not political zealots trying to push reform on their fellow citizens,” Instead, she wrote, “They are committed same-sex couples, many of them heading up de facto families,” who believe their constitutional rights are being violated.
Perhaps some Kentucky lawyer ought to stick a lawsuit in Andrew Cuomo so that NY Bettors can bet races run outside the State of New York at Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation, that refuses to take in money because:..........(it has too much?)
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Home > LI
Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
