Page 3 - Windsor Case News Today

And oklahoma and other states are making plans for alternate methods of execution in case the court rules against them. some are throwbacks like the electric chair. and some never used before. the really big case before the supreme court being watched and fought over already in state houses and the campaign trail is the one the justices are going to hear on tuesday. that is the day the court will hear arguments on whether to declare same sex marriage to be legal nationwide. specifically the just...

In this case. they havent yet. and -- >> supreme court didnt. >> supreme court. thats right. there have been a number of rulings since in various other courts. many of those cite the windsor case. >> exactly. >> dwhoot you say to people who said that was in fact, the pivot point. >> i think the windsor case was tremendously important. the day the two decisions came down the same day. and the first thing that i said, when i was asked by reporters on the steps of the supreme court, was that the pe...

Clear that the olson/boies team believes that marriage equality was nothing and nowhere before they entered the stage. in your chapter you lay out -- you are aware of the history. >> unfortunately mr. frank just didnt read the book. if you read the book, he would have seen what we lay out in terms of the history. and, for example, anybody who is active here, i mean, every year the human rights campaign, you know, has a big dinner. and people are active in this go to that dinner. 4,000 or 5,000 p...

Whether it is going our way or not. frequently courts make decisions that are not with public opinion at that particular time. it is not part of our calculus. >> i think viewers will look at map on the screen and show where same-sex marriage is lawful and recognized and all of these decisions are going in the same direction in which you taken the commonwealth and they assume there is a connection between the two. the public sentiment and trends. you are saying that is not the case. >> we are not...

Create the climate for the victory. thats what were doing. what were seeing now is we have reached that critical mass and america is ready for the victory that will bring this joy to everyone across the country. >> richard, do you agree that a state-based approach is appropriate right now? >> well, what weve seen recently is almost a tidal wave of decisions out of the federal courts in various states since the supreme courts ruling in the windsor case, which has proven now to be very important. ...

One of the ways in which you claim its meaningful is a new argument i havent seen anywhere else before, you claim that the argument in the successful overturning of doma, the windsor case, was actually influenced by the failed case in the prop 8 fight. i talked to a lot of people involved in both of these cases involved in the drafting of the windsor briefs, who really took issue with that characterization. they said, actually the reasoning in the two cases was very different, but the olson case...

Domestic partner registry in the sate state and they said we disagree with this law even though the law is on the books. it can cut both ways, cant it, chris? >> yeah, it certainly can. but i think that thats part of our 50-state process. and the overwhelming majority of attorneys general who have been faced with the challenge over especially since the supreme courts ruling in the windsor case have decided that this law, the supreme court justice kennedy and his opinion, sort of put the writing ...

Executive. >> certainly states that passed constitutional amendments like georgia, which do not recognize same-sex marriages. i think we might also see something from within the justice department. national association of assistant u.s. attorneys has recently pushed back against eric holder proposals to change sentencing laws, do away with mandatory sentence, at least not push it as much. we may see some internal dispute over this particular proposal. >> why now? why do you think the particular ...

Action now? >> last year the united states supreme court in the windsor case finally held it is unconstitutional to not recognize same-sex marriages for purposes of federal benefits. department of justice and other parts of the administration have a green light to say, look, we cant wait on congress to do everything but we can do whats within our power to change things we have control over. >> attorney general holder is expected to issue that memo tomorrow. dramatic testimony in the loud music...

>> so, of the cases -- the other case is utah case. >> yes. yes. >> gay marriage, which appears to say can we stop gay marriage until we get a final court opinion? >> yes this one came out of the blue for a lot of people, as we all know. same-sex marriage, a lot of action across the united states. the supreme court sort of side stepped the issue last summer in the california proposition 8 case but at the same time it also ruling in another case said that same-sex people haved same rights as homo...