Gay rights movement ‘emboldened’ by marriage ruling targets religious liberty

[Geee]

Washington Times:

If the debate over marriage looks like it’s becoming more polarized, that’s because it is.

 

Professor John C. Eastman, founding director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, said the Supreme Court opened a Pandora’s box in June when it struck down all laws nationwide defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

 

Rather than resolving an issue once and for all — as the court often thinks itself capable of doing — the decision only “further emboldened” the gay rights movement and led to a series of fights at the state level, he said.

 

“Now, they’re going after any exemptions for religious liberty and whatever. It’s incredibly polarized,” he said.

 

This is not the first time the Supreme Court has sought to resolve political discord only to further inflame an issue.

 

“The consequence of trying to settle the issue, ignoring the political resolution that was in the works in Dred Scott v. Sandford, led to the Civil War,” Mr. Eastman said, referring to the 1857 Supreme Court decision that said slaves and their descendants could never become U.S. citizens.

[Draggingtree]

State Bar Won't Sanction Paxton over Same-Sex Marriage Opinion

by Khorri Atkinson Aug. 9, 2016 72Comments

Attorney General Ken Paxton telling county clerks they do not have to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is not a sign of "professional misconduct," according Same-Sex Marriage to the State Bar of Texas.

 

The organization last week dismissed a complaint filed against the embattled top prosecutor by more than 200 Texas attorneys, who argued that he “violated his own official oath of office” by issuing a written opinion stating that clerks and public officials could ignore the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/09/state-bar-ken-paxton-same-sex-marriage/