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Saturday, July 29, 2006
Courts - More on: Dahlia Lithwick writes on state court judges and the gay marriage bans
Dahlia Lithwick's Slate column, which I quoted here in an ILB entry Thursday, began:
Let's say you're a justice on the Washington State Supreme Court. You have a nice life, a quiet life. Cozy chambers. Huggable clerks. And then in March of 2005, you hear oral arguments in a case about the state ban on gay marriage.Her article was of course about the Supreme Court of Washington's decision Wednesday to uphold a state law banning same-sex marriages.(See ILB entry here.)
Today the Seattle Times has a story headed "Upholding gay-marriage ban may put new spin on court races." Some quotes:
OLYMPIA — Good luck trying to read the political reverberations from the state Supreme Court's decision this week upholding Washington's gay-marriage ban.Theories abound about how the long-awaited ruling will affect the three justices who are up for re-election this year.
Many observers say Justice Tom Chambers, who so far is unopposed, will likely draw a conservative opponent because of his minority opinion that the gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional.
Justice Susan Owens, who concurred in Chambers' opinion, is already taking heat from religious conservatives in her re-election race against Republican state Sen. Steve Johnson.
Meanwhile, there are rumors that activists in the gay and lesbian community are trying to recruit someone to run against Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, who voted to uphold the state's Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). But others say Alexander's vote in the case could help him in his race against challenger John Groen, a prominent property-rights attorney from Bellevue.
The candidate filing deadline for this year's election is today at 5 p.m. * * *
Hours after the court's 5-4 gay-marriage ruling was released Wednesday, Gov. Christine Gregoire asked that people on both sides of the issue not take their frustrations out on the justices.
"Whether we agree or disagree with them, we have to respect that they're doing their job," said Gregoire, a Democrat who is supporting all three court incumbents. "The way we distinguish this country from others is respect for the legal process."
The gay-marriage case plunged the Supreme Court squarely into the middle of one of society's most bitter culture clashes. Owens said it was "by far" the most controversial issue she has dealt with since joining the court six years ago.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 29, 2006 05:18 PM
Posted to Courts in general