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Fourth Circuit: Virginia Gay Marriage Ban Is Unconstitutional

RULING WILL HAVE DIRECT IMPACT ON SOUTH CAROLINA CASE A three-judge panel at the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia has ruled the Commonwealth’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, saying such prohibitions “impermissibly infringe on its citizens’ fundamental right to marry.” The Fourth Circuit has jurisdiction over nine U.S….

RULING WILL HAVE DIRECT IMPACT ON SOUTH CAROLINA CASE

A three-judge panel at the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia has ruled the Commonwealth’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, saying such prohibitions “impermissibly infringe on its citizens’ fundamental right to marry.”

The Fourth Circuit has jurisdiction over nine U.S. Districts – including the entirety of South Carolina, which adopted a gay marriage ban in 2006.

“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable,” judge Henry F. Floyd wrote. “However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws.”

“The choice of whether and whom to marry is an intensely personal decision that alters the course of an individual’s life,” Floyd continued. “Denying same-sex couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society.”

In South Carolina, a lesbian couple who were married in Washington, D.C. have challenged the Palmetto State’s ban.  That case – Bradacs v. Haley  – was stayed by district judge Michelle Childs in April pending the outcome of the Virginia case, Bostic v. Rainey .

This website has repeatedly argued against government banning or sanctioning any form of marriage – gay or straight.  Such decisions should be left exclusively up to individual churches and their governing denominations, in our opinion.  Also, much of the debate over civil unions – which we support for gay and straight couples – would be rendered obsolete if our nation’s anti-competitive, discriminatory tax system were scrapped and replaced (in part) with a consumption-based tax.

South Carolina’s gay marriage ban passed as a constitutional amendment with 78 percent of the vote eight years ago.  Recent polls show an uptick in support for gay marriage – although a majority of South Carolinians still disapprove.  One October 2013 poll showed 38.5 percent support for same sex marriage compared to 52.2 percent who opposed the practice.

What do you think? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments section below …

UPDATE: South Carolina leaders, candidates react to the ruling.

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68 comments

jesus isn't lord July 28, 2014 at 4:09 pm

I think it’s hilarious that the do-gooder bible thumpers will be crying in their holy water over this decision. Coming from the uber-conservative Fourth Circuit, this decision is a big deal, and a big defeat for THOSE-THAT-WORSHIP-INVISIBLE-SKY-GOD. This is a also a defeat for the absurd idea of taking your life’s instructions from a 1600 year old book full of bullshit and contradictions written by sheep herders who lived in sheepskin tents. I love it.

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CL July 28, 2014 at 5:05 pm

“Coming from the uber-conservative Fourth Circuit…”

Obama has stacked the Court since 2008 and it is not that conservative any longer. To that point, this is a 2-1 decision by a Clinton appointee and an Obama appointee.

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Legislating From The Bench July 28, 2014 at 8:01 pm

So, name for us a Circuit Court that is more conservative than the Fourth?

You guys are a constant source of amusement. No adverse ruling to your cause is ever acceptable. You simply can’t be satisfied. Screw the Court if it ain’t in my favor.

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CL July 29, 2014 at 8:06 am

You guys are a constant source of amusement, attacking arguments no one made and always attributing false motives to those who disagree with you.

First, I did not actually claim it was less conservative than any other court, just that it no longer deserved its “uber-conservative” reputation. If I were to observe that Obama is not conservative, that would say nothing about whether he is more conservative than Karl Marx.

Second, I would say, now that you asked, that the 5th Circuit is clearly more conservative than the 4th. 10 of the 15 active judges were appointed by Republicans. It has almost as many Reagan appointees still active on the bench as it does judges nominated by Democrats.

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Judge Henry Floyd is a SC Hero July 29, 2014 at 2:51 pm

The author of the opinion, Henry Floyd, is from South Carolina. He was appointed to the federal district court by PRESIDENT BUSH, then appointed to the federal court of appeals by President Obama. The Senate confirmed both of these appointments. Unanimously.

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CL July 29, 2014 at 4:38 pm

You do not seem to understand how district judges have historically been nominated (i.e. senatorial courtesy) or the role Sen. Graham (senatorial courtesy and all) played in advancing Floyd, a former Dem state legislator. So he owes his district court seat to Graham.

After Floyd was put on the district court, Graham was pushing him for the 4th Circuit. However, Floyd burned any bridges with Bush over the Padilla decision. Which is why it took Obama to get him on the Court.

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 5:23 pm

Hallelujah! Marriage Equality should be the Law of the Land.
Now we also need to get out of the dark ages and legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use and get some folks out of prison that are serving these outrageous sentences for simple possession.
Isn’t it great to start off the week with some Good News for a change!?!

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Yay! July 28, 2014 at 8:03 pm

Virginia is for gay lovers!

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 9:33 pm

Try telling that to my lover the fudgepackeratchocolatemonkey. He will tell you that SC is for gay lovers and always has been.

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lexguy July 29, 2014 at 7:27 am

Marriage equality is the law of the land. homosexual ‘marriage’ is a contradiction in terms. Any man and any woman can marry each other if they want. That’s marriage equality. Same sexes can’t marry. There’s a reason for that.

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MyrtleMartha July 30, 2014 at 11:06 am

What is that reason?

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You said it, brother July 28, 2014 at 8:24 pm

You nailed it. After all, what could spell the beginning-of-the-end for Christianity more resoundingly than a circuit court decision? Now all the invisible sky god folks will have to change their minds.

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tHe dEmocrat pArty July 28, 2014 at 10:37 pm

Thank you so much. Great message. Harry and I support Vincent and Tom 100%

Nancy

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Barbarossa July 29, 2014 at 6:53 pm

Thanks for your opinion, ye old worm rot who is but on a highway to hell. Peace

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 4:12 pm

Does this mean I can finally marry Lindsey Graham?

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Boomer July 28, 2014 at 4:15 pm

No, but it does mean you can go eff yourself.

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 9:35 pm

I’ve been doing that for years. The older I get the easier it gets. When your d$ck is super hard it isn’t easy to get it to bend under you so it reaches back there.

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Smirks July 28, 2014 at 4:19 pm

“impermissibly infringes on its citizens’ fundamental right to marry.”

Huge, huge props to the court for recognizing this is an individual right.

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Elfego July 28, 2014 at 7:53 pm

So a person has freedom of religion and Sharia Law is a part of religion. In that case let all who are opposed to Gay Marriage join Sharia and kill Gays. That is the answer!

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Original Good Old Boy July 29, 2014 at 2:11 pm

Your post is a non sequitur. A fundamental right to marry is not the same as a fundamental right to stone a woman to death because her actions violate your religion.

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 4:38 pm

Who cares? .

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scboy2345 July 28, 2014 at 4:53 pm

By your logic, If at any point in a marriage pro-creation/child care is not the goal then a marriage should be invalidated. By your logic, they are just a bunch of straight non-creators taking government handouts for no reason. Those people are leeches on the system too, right? Just trying to figure out when you decide which freeloader gets a pass and which one doesn’t

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Saluda Rapids July 28, 2014 at 4:58 pm

This is the SC Political Digest, reporting live from our new home in Fancy Gap, VA….good night everyone!

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Sandi Morals July 28, 2014 at 5:31 pm

Another reason to vote for Nikki as Tom Ervin and Sheehen support state sanctioned gay marriage in SC.

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 5:38 pm

Good point, Sandi. While the Liberals are dancing in the streets, gay marriage support just forces democrats out the closet on it.

Read: Sheheen and his Gay dilemma: http://scdigest.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-vincent-sheheen-being-secretive.html

And each time they profess an opinion, for or against, it hurts them. Sheheen is already in trouble w/ his base over homosexuals now. Great article about it on SCPD (linked above.) I got a mountain of unique visitors on that story, that FITS was too scared to expose.

shifty henry July 28, 2014 at 8:34 pm

GrandTomTom, I don’t remember any star over your cradle……

CorruptionInColumbia July 28, 2014 at 5:52 pm

As if that in any way impacted my life in a negative way.

Sandi +Nikki=lies July 28, 2014 at 6:32 pm

Another hijacked article, with a lie, about Ervin, from Sandi!
While she daydreams about her love Nikki!

Your friend Sambi July 28, 2014 at 6:35 pm

Just returned from the coast, where I found a Sandi crack in my @$$!

GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 5:01 pm

Psychotic much? :)

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seperationofchurchandtruth July 28, 2014 at 5:07 pm

looks like we have a freeloader people!

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Sandi Morals July 28, 2014 at 5:39 pm

Correct. Only 2.3 % of Americans are identified as gay.Who does care? I don’t care if they marry their dog , parrot or hampster. That will be coming down the slippery slope next.
Problem is that in order to justify their perverted lifestyle they have to try and destroy the Biblical truth of traditional marriage.

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Sand in your Schlitz July 28, 2014 at 6:20 pm

America is not a church. If it were, we’d be no better off than the Middle East…

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Sand in your Schlitz July 28, 2014 at 6:30 pm

Funny how Tango and Sandi seem to take dinner together…

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 6:35 pm

“I don’t care if they marry their dog , parrot or hampster. That will be coming down the slippery slope next. ”
If you cannot understand the difference between two human beings marrying and a person marrying a dog or a parrot or a hamster then I feel very orry for you.
And based on your posts I think I would probably opt to marry my dog rather than enter into holy matrimony with you – just saying.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein July 28, 2014 at 10:32 pm

And based on your posts I think I would probably opt to marry my dog rather than enter into holy matrimony with you – just saying.

You realise you’re not helping your case there SCB?
; )

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seperatechurchandtruth July 28, 2014 at 4:45 pm

There is no legal, non-biblical, justification for restricting gay marriage(especially since marriage was not created by christians). It sickens me that the United States still bases its law using the same logic as sharia law. It seems like seperation of church and state is a bunch of propoganda to codify christian principles into law, especially since seperation of C+S is not mentioned a single time in the Constitution. If you support religion-based laws/punishments then you are empowering terrorists who do the same around the globe. But hey, as long as you are fine with helping terrorists go ahead and keep thumping the bible.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein July 28, 2014 at 10:35 pm

(especially since marriage was not created by christians)

So…uh…what did the folks who created “marriage” think of “gay marriage”.

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Thomas July 29, 2014 at 10:09 am

Most of our marriage laws are based on Roman law though the concept of marriage extends back long before Rome. The entire concept of marriage to one wife was Greco-Roman. Most societies, including Jews, practiced polygamy, prior to their assimilation by Rome.
In most societies marriage had nothing to do with sex or love. It was a contractual relationship designed to transfer property and wealth. Marriage was used to create alliances and consolidate fortunes into greater fortunes. For most of history women were pawns in this process and essentially sold by their father to their husband; and men had sex with whomever they wanted in their households. The wife was little different from any other slave in that regard.

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Yeah! July 29, 2014 at 8:29 pm

Game of Thrones is awesome!

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TontoBubbaGoldstein July 29, 2014 at 9:07 pm

So…uh…what did the folks who created “marriage” think of “gay marriage”.

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Just wondering July 28, 2014 at 4:47 pm

Will make Sandi Morales very happy! She seems sooo in love with Nikki.

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TSIB July 28, 2014 at 5:10 pm

“This website has repeatedly argued against government banning or sanctioning any form of marriage – gay or straight.”

A monumentally stupid stance.

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GrandTango July 28, 2014 at 5:41 pm

Anybody else see this issue Killing the democrats at the ballot box in Nov.?

Read Sheeen and the gay dilemma: http://scdigest.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-vincent-sheheen-being-secretive.html

Sheheen has a dilemma on his hands. D*mn#D if he does, D*m#ed if he don’t. The gays say sacrifice the election over it, for them. Even though they are only 1.5 percent o the population. You gotta laugh:

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John Boy July 28, 2014 at 5:51 pm

I just read The States piece on this, and behold, Tango is now Charles McDaniels. Fucking idiot.

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CorruptionInColumbia July 28, 2014 at 6:00 pm

GOOD!!!!!!!!! Now I can find me a really hot lesbian chick and marry her!

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 6:36 pm

I have some very good Lesbian friends who are looking for a mate but it just depends on whether you are butch enough!! (I’m teasing you, CIC!)

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CorruptionInColumbia July 28, 2014 at 7:07 pm

Yes, SCBlues, I am very butch. Facial hair and chest hair is a hormonal imbalance thing. I’ve been told my clitoris resembles a penis very strongly, since birth. It also squirts like one, but it’s because I’m so damn butch.

:-)

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 7:22 pm

You are a riot!

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TontoBubbaGoldstein July 28, 2014 at 10:28 pm

True story:

TBG had a buddy whose wife left him for a woman….

Leading him to make one of the best quotes ever:

“*deep sigh* I guess my dick wasn’t small enough…”

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The Colonel July 28, 2014 at 6:36 pm

Will’s over the top support of the “Gay Agenda” and his bromances with Kirkman and T-Rav, coincidence? I think not…

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 6:38 pm

“Gay Agenda”
Is that the opposite of the “Straight Agenda”?? Just wondering . . .

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The Colonel July 28, 2014 at 6:43 pm

No, I’d opine that the “celibate agenda” is the opposite of the Gay Agenda.

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SCBlues July 28, 2014 at 6:46 pm

Ah – so straights don’t have sex????

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The Colonel July 28, 2014 at 6:48 pm

You asked about opposites, celibates have sex with no one, the LBGT crowd seems to have it with everyone. Not judging, just observing…

Tom July 29, 2014 at 12:26 pm

Wow, do you think there is any reason to dig the hole deeper at this point?

The Colonel July 29, 2014 at 12:30 pm

What hole is that? The “liberals have no sense of humor if you joke about their sacred cows” hole?

Tom July 29, 2014 at 2:26 pm

A sense of humor, means you know when something is funny and when its not. So I think my sense of humor is fine. I don’t give a crap about sacred cows. If your “joke” had been funny I would have laughed. If you had made “joke” about all women being sluts, I would not have found that funny either, even though its the same thing.
For the record, how about you? Would you find a joke implying all women are sluts funny? How about jokes implying all black people are lazy, or Polish people are dumb or Jewish people are greedy? Do you find those jokes funny as well?

The Colonel July 29, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Most of those stereotypes are the basis for many a funny joke – so yes, I guess I would. I try not to take myself (or you) so seriously.

Tom July 29, 2014 at 4:10 pm

Fair enough, but just so you know the people against whom the stereotypes are being perpetuated find those jokes offensive, not funny.

The Colonel July 29, 2014 at 4:12 pm

Do you come here often? You have to admit the “celibate is the opposite of the Gay Agenda “thing is pretty funny.

??? July 28, 2014 at 6:48 pm

I believe the Col. is havng an off day.

idcydm July 28, 2014 at 7:11 pm

Who pays the alimony when they get a divorce?

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Jan July 29, 2014 at 9:41 am

The same person who pays it in any divorce. Perhaps you guys did not know that we have not based the alimony determination on gender in over 25 years. I’m betting all the up votes are guys who think women can’t or shouldn’t earn the money in the family. Typical Republicans.

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idcydm July 29, 2014 at 7:05 pm

I’m betting you’re wrong.

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Elfego July 28, 2014 at 7:51 pm

The only real reason for marriage is reproduction. Nothing more or less regardless of what one thinks!

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shifty henry July 28, 2014 at 8:46 pm

‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds’ is a history of popular folly by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841
======================

“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.”

“Of all the offspring of Time, Error is the most ancient, and is so old and familiar an acquaintance, that Truth, when discovered, comes upon most of us like an intruder, and meets the intruder’s welcome.”

“We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.”

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Rocky July 28, 2014 at 10:14 pm

I think it makes a lot of sense for Nikki to support traditional marriage. Let’s see – she’s banged at least two guys we know of since she got married – and proves what fine upstanding commitments are all about. In the meantime – she attacks those who’s bent is a little off the straight and narrow. Two queers get married and Charleston and who cares. Time to enter the 21st century, get rid of Nikki and have elected officials come ouf the closet. You all know who you are.

Sandi – come on – we all know you have those thoughts. Those tendencies. Let loss – and experiement. Give Nikki a call – I bet she swings both ways. Enjoy the nector.

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