From the Sun Sentinel:
Five times now, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has gone to court to vigorously defend the state constitutional amendment voters approved in 2008 to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
And five times, she's lost.
It's time for Bondi to stop wasting state resources and give up the fight.
Bondi's argument — that 62 percent of Florida voters supported the amendment, that marriage is meant to produce children, and that allowing same-sex marriage would "impose significant public harm" — is failing to pass constitutional muster.
Across our nation — including in Florida — about 30 state and federal judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic politicians have reached the same conclusion: same-sex marriage bans violate the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees due process and equal protection.
"The undeniable truth is that the Florida ban on same-sex marriage stems entirely, or almost entirely, from moral disapproval of the practice," U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of Tallahassee said last week in ordering that the state recognize same-sex marriages, a ruling he temporarily stayed. "The institution of marriage survived when bans on interracial marriage were struck down, and the institution will survive when bans on same-sex marriage are struck down."
Bondi has until Sept. 22 to decide whether to appeal, but she may have to move more quickly on a second order that a coroner change — to "married" — the death certificate of a woman who was with her partner for 47 years and married four years. If Bondi fights this order, she will be seeking to deny survivor benefits to a woman who is caring for her late wife's elderly parents.
It's hard to see how Bondi can duck it. And it's hard to see how she can win.
Lately, Bondi's strategy has been to ask judges for a stay until the U.S Supreme Court again weighs in. But Thursday, that strategy was undercut when an appellate court said the Florida Supreme Court must decide by next month the case of a gay couple seeking a divorce.
Bondi could tell her political base she's fought the good fight. Sure, she'd anger social conservatives who believe homosexuality is an abomination before God. Consider the email a senior Becker & Poliakoff lawyer sent his South Florida law firm last week after Hinkle's ruling: "Today's reckless trashing of morality has been damaging on many fronts. For one, there has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted disease over the past few decades, with the gay plague of AIDS being a classic example. We would do well to heed the Proverbs 11:21 warning of our ultimate Judge: "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished."
But public opinion is shifting, even among a large number of Republicans. A Pew Research Center poll in March found 52 percent of those aged 18 to 50 now support same-sex marriage, though that number drops to 27 percent among Republicans over age 50.
Yes, this is an election year, and older voters turn out in larger numbers, but Bondi is a darling in her party and far better funded than her Democratic opponent George Sheldon, a former secretary of the Department and Children & Families.
She could take a cue from former Gov. Jeb Bush, who despite his personal and religious convictions, finally gave up the fight to force-feed Terri Schiavo nine years ago, admitting he couldn't overturn a judge's order.
You've got to believe Bondi is tired of all the negative publicity. In waging this fight, she's sounded half-hearted at times, no matter her comments last week in Palm Beach: "This is me doing my job as attorney general. And I will continue to do that and if anybody wants me to moderate my message or stand for less, I have a message for them: I am just getting started."
Better if Bondi took a page from seven other state attorneys general, who've reviewed the same facts and dropped their appeals.
Consider how Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway put it: "There are those who believe it is my mandatory duty, regardless of my personal opinion, to continue to defend through the appellate process. However I came to the inescapable conclusion that if I did so, I would be defending discrimination and that I will not do. ... I'm also mindful of those in the business community who have reached out to me encouraging me not to appeal the decision. I agree that discriminatory policies hamper a state's ability to attract business, create jobs and develop a modern workforce."
If Pam Bondi truly believes in state's rights, she should stop trying to punt her judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
And if she truly believes in equality for all, she should follow the lead of other attorneys general and end her fight against same-sex marriage in the courts, including the court of public opinion.
For she is sure to lose. And history will not remember her fondly.
No comments:
Post a Comment