A new law takes effect today in the nation’s capital, granting equal rights in marriage licensing for gay couples.
Washington, D.C.’s marriage equality legislation becomes law in spite of a Herculean effort by opponents to block its implementation through both legal action—including a last-minute Hail Mary pass to the U. S. Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts for a stay—as well as law maneuvering in the House and Senate.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday evening denied a request to stop the District of Columbia’s new law from going into effect Wednesday, March 3. Marriage opponent Harry Jackson and others had petitioned the high court to intervene to stop the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act” from taking effect until voters could address the issue through referendum.
While Roberts said he thinks the argument Jackson’s group makes “has some force,” he said the high court typically defers to the local courts about “matters of exclusively local concern.” He also noted that Congress, which has the power to review D.C. laws for 30 days before they take effect, took no action against the measure. And he pointed out that Jackson’s group still has the option to seek a ballot measure through an initiative process, and not a referendum.
The implementation of the new marriage equality law makes Washington, D. C, the sixth jurisdiction—along with Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont—to issue licenses to same-sex couples. The District is also the first place for marriage equality below the Mason-Dixon line
(source: keennewsservice)
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