Let me predict the next steps in the process. 1. Same-sex marriage becomes law in Massachusetts at the business end of a gavel. 2. Two gay non-residents get married in MA, return to their home state, and then sue their home state to require recognition of their marriage under the "full faith and credit clause." Home state balks, invoking the Defense of Marriage Act. 3. Gay couple goes to federal court seeking a) to have DOMA declared unconstitutional under "full faith and credit clause," or b) to have bans on gay marriage thrown out under the Equal Protection clause (citing Lawrence v. Texas with great ebullience). In both cases, the district and/or circuit courts, being courts, say OK (I can't imagine this not happening.) 4. Supreme Court a) strikes down DOMA and allows-gay marriage to happen state-by-state, or b) declared bans on gay-marriage unconstitutional on an equal protection basis. Not a single legislative act, executive order, or popular vote required. Isn't judicial activism fun? (And isn't this why a federal marriage amendment is sounding more and more like a good idea every day? )
It seems like step 2b is taking place. In...an Alabama Prison? WTF?
Male inmates sue state seeking same-sex marriage behind bars
By PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press Writer
Two male inmates at Fountain prison near Atmore have sued the state in hopes of getting married, despite a prohibition in state law and no precedent for a married couple behind bars.
"We certainly wouldn't condone this type of marriage," prison spokesman Brian Corbett said Monday.
The inmates, Daruis Chambers and Jonathan Jones, acted as their own attorney in the suit. They argue that the state law banning same-sex marriages violates their constitutional rights of due process and free speech.
"This court must not allow the alleged sexual morals of a society filled with bias to be the scales of balance," they wrote in their five-page lawsuit.
Wow. Alabama prisons must suck.
Posted by Thief at April 13, 2004 12:04 PM