Done yesterday (20120207 Tu)

[mdlbear]

A pretty good day, though a little short; I got up half an hour after the clock radio went on, and crashed an hour before my usual bedtime of midnight. (The skeptic in me wonders whether there's a correlation there; the pessimist fears that there is, and that even more of my time is about to disappear into the black hole of sleep.)

I left a prompt at ysabetwordsmith's Poetry Fishbowl; you can buy the resulting poem for only $10.

The big news, of course, is the 9th Circuit's ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional. You can see relevant quotes here. I was initially very concerned, since I don't trust the current Supreme Court at all. But this appears to be narrow enough, applying only to states in the 9th circuit where the right to marry was taken away, that the Supremes might simply let it stand. Maybe.

By using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so, the People of California violated the Equal Protection Clause. We hold Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional on this ground.

They'll have to deal with it eventually, of course. We'll see.

0207 Tu
  * up 7am; W=191.6; drugs, nose, teeth, laundry, exercise, light
  @ Can porn be copyrighted? One file-sharing defendant says no 
  @ Video preservation | Files That Last 
  * should fix stargate's email config, otherwise daily ping won't work.
    actually not clear it was ever broken.  But it's been tested now.
  % 5:24 dozing in my chair at work.  Should go home.
  @ elf: Prop 8 ruling quotes. Narrow enough to be safe?
    The quote in every news article (Prop 8 Trial Tracker calls it the "money
    line"): "By using their initiative power to target a minority group and
    withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing
    so, the People of California violated the Equal Protection Clause. We hold
    Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional on this ground." 
  @ The Pervocracy: The Geek Social Fallacies of Sex.
  % 9:30 sleepy
  @ The Wordsmith's Forge - Poetry Fishbowl Open! (prompt)

Comments

[freyjaw]

I think the narrowness of Prop H8 will lead to its eventual demise. Or should I say narrowmindedness? I'm not worried that SCOTUS is a bit right of center. This is still a matter of a particular right that once existed which was removed. Simple.

[gmcdavid.livejournal.com]

The conservative columnist James Taranto thinks the Prop 8 ruling will be upheld. Key quote:

The Ninth Circuit has a poor batting average in Supreme Court appeals, and this decision was written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who is notoriously liberal. Those facts are likely to inspire optimism among conservative commentators who oppose same-sex marriage. They shouldn't. Reinhardt's decision was expertly crafted to appeal to his former Ninth Circuit peer Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose view of the matter is all but certain to prove decisive.
[snip]
....The court will not find a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in this case, but it will strike down Proposition 8 and thereby reimpose same-sex marriage in California. Reinhard's decision lays out a way in which Justice Kennedy can do so--and indeed makes it very difficult for Kennedy to uphold Proposition 8.

[mdlbear]

Encouraging.

[willowisp.livejournal.com]

I hope so fervently, but I still worry about how the SCotUS would rule if they take the case.

[mdlbear]

Me too. I don't trust them at all.