Mike DeWine, the Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has discovered a new way to put one’s foot deeply into one’s mouth: Via a legal brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Specifically, DeWine says in his brief that the LGBT community in his state doesn’t deserve to be a protected class of people and that no state should be required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state:
?Heightened scrutiny does not apply because there is no fundamental right to the recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages.”
So let’s see if I have this right: States have to recognize the legal marriages of heterosexual couples and afford them the same benefits they receive in the state where they were married, but a state can refuse to recognize the marriage of a same-sex couple simply because they don’t agree with the concept? Are you kidding me?!
DeWine’s brief also uses some incredibly tortured logic by saying that the fact that the federal government ?and some states are supporting same-sex marriage proves that the LGBT community has not been:
?(R)elegated to such a position of political powerlessness.?At the federal level, the executive branch filed an amicus brief, as did some 167 Representatives and 44 Senators. Not only that, with respect to DOMA, the executive branch’s strong support led it to the ?unusual position? of failing ?to defend the constitutionality of an Act of Congress based on a constitutional theory not yet established in judicial decisions? and that was rejected by four Justices.”
Ever wonder how someone with a law degree who makes his living from the law can be so dense when it comes to laws he disagrees with? I’m beginning to think Mike DeWine was repeatedly dropped on his head as a child.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on same-sex marriage in June of this year, and based on what the state of Ohio has placed before them, it seems highly likely they will rule in favor of equal marriage rights for all Americans. Then Mike DeWine can his ilk can go back to fretting over more pertinent legal issues.
