Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Looming dilemma: Choosing an advocate
by Lisa Keen, Keen News Service
2015-02-19

This article shared 3205 times since Thu Feb 19, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Just beyond the February 27 deadline for filing their briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court to lay out their arguments against state bans on marriage for same-sex couples, the 36 attorneys signed onto those briefs have another looming task. They must choose who will go before the nine justices in April to deliver the arguments orally.

The event will be historic — even more so than the oral argument delivered by Ted Olson when he appeared before the court in March 2013 to urge the court to strike down California's ban on same-sex marriage. Representing hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples and their families in the high profile appearance will also be a privilege that hundreds of attorneys have helped make possible through many dozens of court cases through two decades. And the attorneys who carry the mantle at the Supreme Court will inevitably feel the weight of a profound responsibility.

Who will get the honor and burden?

The U.S. Supreme Court has made that question a little more difficult than usual. It has asked the plaintiffs in four different cases across four different states to choose only two attorneys —one to tackle each of the two questions the court has limited argument to.

Right now, the 36 attorneys representing those plaintiffs don't want to talk about who will argue the cases; they are concentrating on meeting the February 27 deadline for their written argument briefs. Several said the group was not yet discussing even how to make the decision among themselves.

Although the group does not have to choose among themselves, several of them are eminently qualified and interested.

"Who wouldn't like to argue this before the high court?!" said Mary Bonauto, the attorney who represented plaintiff couples in Massachusetts before the state supreme court there to win the historic decision in 2003 that led to that state becoming the first to allow marriage for same-sex couples.

Bonauto, the civil rights director for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD ), is one of five attorneys signed onto the briefs in the Michigan case, DeBoer v. Snyder.

In recent years, various studies have suggested that attorneys with experience arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court are more likely to win there. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus put it this way, in a 2008 article: "[W]hether counsel in a Supreme Court case is an experienced Supreme Court advocate is a significant determinant in the outcome of the case."

There are plenty of reasons to believe that is true, but there are also factors that may be skewing data toward that conclusion.

A Reuters report last December, which included interviews with all the justices except Chief Justice John Roberts, suggested the Supreme Court is somewhat clubby when it comes to oral arguments.

In the last term, said Reuters, 53 percent of the cases argued included at least one attorney who was a former clerk to the Supreme Court justices. Almost 20 percent of the attorneys arguing before the court in the past decade were from a group of only eight male lawyers with "especially deep connections to justices past and present." Seven of the eight had worked for a justice or in the U.S. Solicitor General's office —or both.

Those eight include former Solicitor Generals Ted Olson and Seth Waxman, the latter being a lead author for a brief from a group of Republicans who favored striking down Proposition 8.

"In this ever more intimate circle, lawyers say, chemistry with the court is key," reported Reuters. The justices "speak glowingly of the repeat performers, explaining that elite lawyers help them understand and sift through complex legal issues."

The 36 attorneys on the marriage equality side of the four Sixth Circuit cases —which include nine attorneys from the three major LGBT legal groups ( GLAD, Lambda, and NCLR )— must soon decide whether to play to that chemistry.

With previous historic LGBT cases, the decision was somewhat easier. The 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case was primarily a Lambda Legal case, so the decision was essentially an internal one at Lambda. The 1996 Romer v. Evans case, regarding Colorado Amendment 2, came down to a comfort level the Colorado plaintiffs had with their chosen local attorney, a former state supreme court justice.

Choosing who will argue the Sixth Circuit marriage cases will likely be more difficult because of the involvement of so many attorneys, several groups, and the long, complicated litigation history that got these cases here.

Jenny Pizer, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal, said there is "no set way" for how to make the decision.

"There are numerous immensely talented, effective, and compelling advocates involved in these cases and working on this issue, so there are potentially many right choices. There is an embarrassment of riches of top legal talent."

The overriding consideration, she said, will be "who gives us the best way for success at the Supreme Court that will have the strongest long-term resonance."

Meanwhile, in other developments, the U.S. Supreme Court on February 9 rejected a request from the state of Alabama to stay enforcement of a federal district court's order that the state stop enforcing its laws against marriage for same-sex couples. Despite other efforts by the state to avoid complying with the federal judge's ruling, many same-sex couples are now obtaining marriage licenses from various state clerks.

As with previous refusals to issue stays, Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were the only justices to indicate that they would have granted a stay. The three-page dissent, penned by Thomas, said it was "ordinary practice" for the high court to grant such stays and the court's refusal to grant the stay to Alabama "may well be seen as a signal of the [Supreme] Court's intended resolution" of the marriage ban question. Thomas criticized the refusal to grant the stay as "another example of this Court's increasingly cavalier attitude toward the States," "popular referendums," and elected representatives.

"I would have shown the people of Alabama the respect they deserve," wrote Thomas, "and preserved the status quo while the Court resolves this important constitutional question."

Next week: A look at some of the possibilities.

© 2015 Keen News Service. All rights reserved.


This article shared 3205 times since Thu Feb 19, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Greek legislature approves marriage equality 2024-02-15
- Greece has become the 36th country, and the first Christian Orthodox-majority one, to legalize same-sex marriage. The BBC reported that same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children after the 176-76 vote that ...


Gay News

Tenn. legislators back bill that lets officials refuse to perform same-sex weddings 2024-02-15
- Defying a national ruling that authorized marriage equality, Tennessee lawmakers approved a measure that would allow public officials to refuse to perform weddings of same-sex couples, The Hill reported. Tennessee's House Bill 878/Senate Bill 596 says ...


Gay News

WORLD Marriage in Greece, UK politics, cruise death, HRC grants 2024-02-02
- The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece unanimously agreed at a recent meeting that it is "strongly opposed" to the Greek government's promised bill on same-sex marriage and adoption, Balkan Insight reported. The conservative New ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Marriage news, fighting fentanyl, anti-LGBTQ+ crimes, Grindr 2024-02-02
- The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that would affirm marriage equality in the state, The Washington Blade noted. House Bill 174, introduced by state Del. Rozia Henson (D-Prince William County), passed in the Democratic-controlled ...


Gay News

WORLD Activist honored, marriages in Estonia, Madrid law, trans sports item 2024-01-05
Video below - The National AIDS Commission (NAC) recently honored Caleb Orozco—a leading figure in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in Belize—for his instrumental contributions to the national HIV response, BNN reported. According ...


Gay News

Catholic Church allows priests to bless same-sex couples but reaffirms disapproval of gay marriage 2023-12-22
- LGBTQ+ couples can now receive blessings from priests, but the Catholic Church maintained its strict ban on gay marriage, according to a Vatican document approved by Pope Francis Dec. 18. This historic change in doctrine marks ...


Gay News

Greek government vows to back marriage equality 2023-12-22
- Despite opposition from the Church of Greece and within the ruling New Democracy, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government said it will eventually move to legalize same-sex marriage, The National Herald reported. However, no timetable was ...


Gay News

Dignity/Chicago welcomes new rule on church blessings for same-sex marriages 2023-12-18
--From a press release - Dignity/Chicago, the advocacy organization for LGBTQI Catholics and friends, welcomed the news that the Vatican's doctrinal office has officially declared it possible for Catholic priests to bless same-sex unions and ...


Gay News

New Ways Ministry: Pope's blessings approval is Christmas gift to LGBTQ+ Catholics 2023-12-18
--From a press release - MOUNT RAINIER, Maryland—Statement by Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry: Pope Francis gave LGBTQ+ Catholics an early Christmas gift this year by approving blessings for same-gender couples. The Vatican ...


Gay News

Pope Francis changes policy, allowing priests to bless same-sex unions; GLAAD responds 2023-12-18
--From a press release - GLAAD: "By removing barriers to priests blessing LGBTQ couples, the Pope accurately recognizes that LGBTQ people and our relationships are worthy of the same affirmation and support in the Church, and this strengthens couples in their ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ couple the first in South Asia to have marriage recognized 2023-11-30
- Transgender woman Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey became the first LGBTQ+ couple to have their marriage legally recognized in South Asia after they received a legal certificate in Nepal's Lamjung district on Nov. 29, The Guardian ...


Gay News

WORLD Thai marriage law, French bill, Miss Universe, IKEA, activist dies 2023-11-24
- Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that the cabinet approved a draft law on marriage equality and that it would be brought to parliament during a session starting in December, Reuters reported. If the draft law ...


Gay News

Pope: Trans people can be baptized and act as godparents 2023-11-09
- Pope Francis has stated that trans people may be baptized and act as godparents or witnesses to marriage under the same conditions as any other adult—as long as a scandal does not result, according to PinkNews. ...


Gay News

Jamaica court upholds sodomy law; activist ends fight in that country 2023-11-01
- On Oct. 27, the Jamaica Supreme Court upheld the country's anti-sodomy law, claiming that only Parliament could repeal the statute—and the ruling has resulted in a longtime advocate/attorney ending his fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the ...


Gay News

Several dozen people arrested over 'gay wedding' in Nigeria 2023-10-25
- Nigerian security personnel arrested more than 70 young people after accusing them of organizing a same-sex wedding, The South China Morning Post reported. Same-sex marriage is illegal in Nigeria under a 2014 law. Gombe, where the ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.