You can't close Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation, on Roman Catholic Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday in preference to Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday.
RICHMOND,
Va. — In sharp exchanges pitting the right of states to set marriage
rules against equal protection for gay and lesbian couples, a
three-judge federal appeals panel here heard arguments on Tuesday on the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriages.
The
panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
appeared to be divided on the issues in what legal experts consider a
crucial case that could propel the marriage question to the Supreme
Court in the coming year.
“Is
this a constitutional issue of magnitude or a democratic issue that can
be decided by the states?” asked the presiding judge, Paul V. Niemeyer,
in one of several comments that seemed to suggest support for
Virginia’s restrictive law.
A
second judge, Roger L. Gregory, gave strong indications of support for
equal treatment of gay and lesbian couples. As lawyers defended
Virginia’s restrictions as a reasonable attempt to foster procreation
and child welfare, he pressed them, asking: “Do same-sex couples have
children? Do you think that child wants less of the dignity of marriage
than any other child?”
It
appeared that the third panelist, Henry F. Floyd, who spoke relatively
little, might provide the decisive vote. His few questions did, however,
suggest support for overturning Virginia’s ban.
Judge
Floyd was appointed to the appeals court by President Obama. Judge
Gregory won a recess appointment by President Bill Clinton and was later
nominated by President George W. Bush, while Judge Niemeyer was named
by the elder President George Bush.
The
appeals panel must decide whether to uphold the ruling in February by
Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen, of United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia, which struck down the voter-approved
amendment restricting marriage to a man and a woman and forbidding
recognition of same-sex marriages or civil unions from other states. In a
ringing opinion, Judge Wright Allen held that the historical moment had
arrived when “ ‘We the People’ becomes more inclusive.”
The
hearing here came 10 years to the week after the first legal same-sex
marriage in the United States, in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004. Today,
17 states and the District of Columbia offer same-sex marriages. Federal
or state courts have called for it in others, and more than 70
challenges to restrictive laws are now pending in at least 30 states.
Late
Tuesday, in the latest of several such decisions around the country, a
federal magistrate judge ruled that Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage was
unconstitutional.
The
judge, Candy Dale, wrote that Idaho’s laws wrongly stigmatize gay and
lesbian couples and relegate their families to second-class status
without sufficient reason. Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter said he intended to
appeal and ask that enforcement be delayed in the meantime, as has
happened in other states.
But
the legality of same-sex marriage nationally is almost certain to be
decided by the Supreme Court in the next year or two, most legal experts
believe, after it agrees to review one or more of the decisions issued
by federal appeals courts like the one here in Richmond. In the West,
the 10th Circuit, based in Denver, has already heard arguments on
rulings that overturned marriage restrictions in Oklahoma and Utah, but
has not yet issued a decision.
Hearings are likely this year in at least another three of the country’s dozen federal circuit courts.
“Maybe
we should just say we pass, and let the case proceed on” to Washington,
Judge Niemeyer joked at one point in Tuesday’s hearing.
Only
30 minutes of oral argument were allotted to each side. Arguing in
favor of same-sex marriage were three lawyers, reflecting an unusual
grouping of two cases and state officials opposing their own law:
Theodore B. Olson, of the celebrated team of Olson and David Boies;
James Esseks of the American Civil Liberties Union, which along with
Lambda Legal represents the state’s estimated 14,000 gay couples in a
separate class-action suit; and Stuart A. Raphael, the solicitor general
of Virginia.
State
officials turned against Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage when
Democrats were elected as attorney general and governor last fall, and
the defense of the amendment was left to two county clerks of court.
Arguing for one was David Austin R. Nimocks of Alliance Defending
Freedom, a Christian law group; for the other, David B. Oakley, a
private lawyer paid by the state.
The
arguments on Tuesday centered on clashing interpretations of United
States v. Windsor, the landmark decision last year that required the
federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states
where they are legal.
Writing
for the 5-to-4 majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that while the
definition of marriage was primarily up to the states, their policies
could not violate basic rights. In striking down the Defense of Marriage
Act, the majority held that the refusal to recognize same-sex marriages
was discrimination and inflicted a stigma on couples and their
children.
To
civil rights advocates and a succession of federal judges over recent
months, the message seemed clear: At this point in the country’s
history, there is no reason to exclude gay and lesbian couples from the
right to marry.
“The Bill of Rights trumps federalism,” is how Mr. Raphael, the Virginia solicitor general, put it to the court on Tuesday.
The
conservatives argue the opposite: In overturning the federal ban on
recognizing state-sanctioned marriages, the Supreme Court was affirming
state supremacy.
“The
essence of the Windsor opinion is that the federal government must
defer to the states,” argued Mr. Nimocks, of Alliance Defending Freedom.
In
a heated exchange, Judge Niemeyer repeatedly cut short Mr. Olson as he
sought to describe the legal basis for equal marriage rights.
Echoing
conservative views, Judge Niemeyer said that traditional heterosexual
marriage “is the unit that keeps society going” and that same-sex
marriage is something new and different, and asked what would keep the
courts from striking down laws against polygamy.
Judge Niemeyer said he expected most states to endorse same-sex marriage, but wondered why the courts should require it.
Mr.
Olson responded that similar arguments had been raised when the Supreme
Court overturned Virginia’s law barring interracial marriage in 1967,
and that to refuse equal status to gay and lesbian couples was creating
for them a “second-class relationship in which their children are
demeaned.”
Stop scratching on holidays
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.
Stop scratching on holidays
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.
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
Long
Island
Business News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
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.
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
Long
Island
Business News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
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.
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