Waiting for the decision on marriage equality

One of the most immediate and impactful decisions affecting the lives of Americans -- besides the ruling on Obamacare subsidies, of course --  will be the SCOTUS's call on gay marriage, due before the end of this month.  (The Fifth Circuit is also deliberating the question and may announce its decision prior to the Supreme Court's.  It won't have the final say, of course.)  Gatherings are planned around Texas to celebrate anticipated good news; Katie Couric recently interviewed one of the lead plaintiffs, Jeff Obergefell.

His case, Obergefell v. Hodges, rests on two questions. One is whether  the Constitution requires a state where same-sex marriage is not legal to recognize a marriage licensed in a state where it is legal. The other question is whether the Constitution requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex — in other words, whether same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide.

The case will likely stand in the history of legal annals alongside iconic civil rights cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.

SCOTUSblog’s Kevin Russell says if the court rules in favor of the legality of same-sex marriages on both of the questions that Obergefell v. Hodges asks, the implications could extend far beyond marriage. 

 “This could be a decision that says that it is generally unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in every sphere,” says Russell. “And if the Supreme Court holds that, then this will be a huge case. It'll be the ‘Brown v. Board of Education’ for sexual orientation. It will mean that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, at least by states and by the federal government, is unconstitutional across the board.”

Obergefell’s case, however, also poses an unlikely danger to proponents of same-sex marriage. Currently, 37 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage. However, in 21 of those states, it is only legal because courts ruled state bans unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court rules against him, and additionally goes so far as to say that the Constitution does not protect marriage at all, those rulings could be in jeopardy.

Experts say that outcome is largely unexpected, but they concede that this scenario could be a major setback for gay couples. Same-sex couples who are now legally married in 21 states could suddenly lose their legal status. As Russell says, “It would be a huge mess.”  

That fear is not lost on Obergefell, who says he “absolutely” shares that concern. “I think there would be a certain level of pandemonium in the country. I mean, how could there not be, because suddenly, again, you're creating this second class of citizens.”

And so we wait (hopefully to celebrate).  Update: Charles has more on the preparations being made at various Texas county courthouses.

Green Party of Texas holds state meeting this weekend

From the press release:

http://gptx.nationbuilder.com

Texas Greens hold state meeting in Tarrant County June 6-7, 2015

By-laws, amendments, election of state officers, and and 2016 ballot access
retention on agenda for delegates' consensus approval

The Green Party of Texas will hold its annual state meeting this Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, at the United Bethlehem Center, 970 E. Humbolt St., Fort Worth.  Regular party business including the consensus on various by-laws and amendments and the election of state party officers will be conducted, along with party-building workshops and seminars.

Given that 2016 will be a better-than-average year for Democratic candidates for a number of reasons, as well as the state legislature’s continued assault on non-primary parties, discussion on ballot retention will be a primary focus. 

According to outgoing GPTX CoChair kat swift, “Getting and maintaining ballot access is always a problem in Texas.  Once ballot access is attained, state law requires active political parties in Texas to achieve a minimum 5% of the total of votes for any one statewide office in order to maintain ballot status, but with straight-ticket voting this is only possible when one primary party fails to run a candidate.”

In recent years the GPTX has been able to keep its future ballot line by running in at least one statewide race where there was no Democrat entered.  In this last legislative session, a bill to end straight-ticket voting was opposed by both primary party lobbyists, as well as a bill to make non-primary parties pay to get on the general election ballot.

“The state legislature continues to work toward more restrictive access to an already restricted ballot line.  We must be diligent if we wish to continue to provide voters a populist alternative to the corporate-run, two-party duopoly,” swift said.

For more information, including a phone number to call, please contact media committee chair Aaron Renaud at aaron.renaud@gmail.com.

There's a fairly interesting development under way for the 2016 ballot, which I can't blog about until after the vote is taken on Saturday. Stay tuned for that.

Lines form at the Lege exit doors

First were Sylvester Turner and Allen Fletcher, two Houston state reps from opposite sides of the aisle who, as we know, are both pursuing other offices.  Democrat Joe Farias of San Antonio also called it quits along with Belton Republican Jimmie Don Aycock, and yesterday it was Republican Sen. Troy Fraser -- the man who helped make Rick Perry a millionaire as governor -- and the head of the Texas State Bored of Education, Thomas Ratliff.  Kind words were spoken about all of them except Fletcher, from what I can tell.

But nobody, and I do mean nobody, is going to miss Fraser, who "had trouble hearing women's voices" among his many shortcomings.  Aycock is a different story.

"I don't think there is anybody in this body who has garnered the respect that you have for your evenhanded way of dealing with things, authentic way of being, and willingness to do what’s right for the state of Texas,"  state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, told Aycock on the floor Monday.

As House education chair this session, he worked hard to try to fix the school financing method -- ruled unconstitutional by one state judge, under review by the Texas Supreme Court at the moment -- which was unraveled by the last-minute clusterfuck of legislation that bottlenecks our legislature at deadline.  In yesterday's post Gadfly and I had a discussion in the comments about whether the Lege's failure to address this issue might mean a special session before 2017 on the topic.  (I think the answer is 'no' mostly on the basis of Aycock's pulling the plug and not Abbott's pronouncement.)

Charles has more on Fraser, the health challenges of Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, who almost certainly won't be running again, and Ratliff, mentioned also in the update below.  With a blue hurricane forming for 2016, it's possible that Texas could do worse with some of these open seats, but the prospects of improvement appear a little brighter.  Only if some lousy TeaBagger clutching his gun and bible replaces Fraser in the Senate could we consider ourselves worse off.

Update:  But if Kevin Eltife decides not to run for re-election -- or is challenged from his right in a 2016 primary and loses --  then the Texas Senate will be much the worse off.