Excerpts of Calif. gay marriage case at high court
By The Associated Press?
?By The Associated PressThis artist rendering shows attorney Charles J. Cooper, right, addressing the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's ban on same-sex marriage. Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)
This artist rendering shows attorney Charles J. Cooper, right, addressing the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's ban on same-sex marriage. Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)
This artist rendering shows Attorney Theodore Olsen, right, representing the same-sex couples, addresses the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's ban on same-sex marriage. Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)
Plaintiffs Kris Perry, left, and her partner Sandy Stier, right, both from Berkeley, Cailf., meet with the media outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, after the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Plaintiffs Paul Katami, left, and his partner Jeff Zarillo, right, from Burbank, Calif., meet with the media outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, after the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Demonstrators walk outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, where the court will hear arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. The Supreme Court waded into the fight over same-sex marriage Tuesday, at a time when public opinion is shifting rapidly in favor of permitting gay and lesbian couples to wed, but 40 states don't allow it. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Some excerpts from the arguments before the Supreme Court on Tuesday about California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, according to an early transcript released by the Supreme Court:
On whether the case should be before them:
?CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: But a state can't authorize anyone to proceed in federal court, because that would leave the definition under Article III of the federal Constitution as to who can bring ? who has standing to bring claims up to each state. And I don't think we've ever allowed anything like that.
?JUSTICE KENNEDY: The problem ? the problem with the case is that you're really asking, particularly because of the sociological evidence you cite, for us to go into uncharted waters, and you can play with that metaphor, there's a wonderful destination, it is a cliff. Whatever that was. ... But you're ? you're doing so in a ? in a case where the opinion is very narrow. Basically that once the state goes halfway, it has to go all the way or 70 percent of the way, and you're doing so in a case where there's a substantial question on ? on standing. I just wonder if ? if the case was properly granted.
On the question of children of same-sex parents:
?JUSTICE KENNEDY: I think there's ? there's substantial ? that there's substance to the point that sociological information is new. We have five years of information to weigh against 2,000 years of history or more. On the other hand, there is an immediate legal injury or legal ? what could be a legal injury, and that's the voice of these children. There are some 40,000 children in California, according to the red brief, that live with same-sex parents, and they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. The voice of those children is important in this case, don't you think?
?MR. COOPER (representing the people who helped get Proposition 8 on the ballot, in response to Justice Kennedy): I certainly would not dispute the importance of that consideration. That consideration especially in the political process, where this issue is being debated and will continue to be debated, certainly, in California. It's being debated elsewhere. But on that ? on that specific question, Your Honor, there simply is no data.
On the question of redefining marriage:
?JUSTICE SCALIA: Mr. Cooper, let me ? let me give you one ? one concrete thing. I don't know why you don't mention some concrete things. If you redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, you must ? you must permit adoption by same-sex couples, and there's ? there's considerable disagreement among -- among sociologists as to what the consequences of raising a child in a -- in a single-sex family, whether that is harmful to the child or not. Some States do not ? do not permit adoption by same-sex couples for that reason.
On the rights of same-sex couples:
?MR. OLSON (representing two same-sex couples): This is a measure that walls off the institution of marriage, which is not society's right. It's an individual right that this Court again and again and again has said the right to get married, the right to have the relationship of marriage is a personal right. It's a part of the right of privacy, association, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
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Online: http://tinyurl.com/dxefy2a
Associated PressNews Topics: Government and politics, Gays and lesbians, Same sex parenting, Same sex child custody, Same sex marriage, Gay rights, Same sex couples, Marriage, Supreme courts, Parenting, Relationships, Lifestyle, Child custody, Child welfare, Human welfare, Social issues, Social affairs, Parental rights, Human rights and civil liberties, Family issues, Couples, National courts, National governments, Courts, Judiciaryslither naacp glen campbell jerusalem artichoke bud shootout aretha franklin stevie wonder
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