I wonder why Sotomayor dissented on the Prop 8 case

[justiceischeap]

that's sort of surprising.

[geek tragedy]

1. she probably wanted a decision on the merits nt

[closeupready]

3. That sounds right to me.

[morningfog]

40. That is what I think, too.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. That will be interesting to read

[Shrek]

4. It wasn't decided on the merits

When deciding issues like standing, I doubt ideology has much to do with it.

[geek tragedy]

7. Republicans usually favor a more restrictive view on standing.

Fewer pesky lawsuits against corporations that way.

[elleng]

29. RIght, thanks. Its Process,

which is very important, when talking legal matters.

[cthulu2016]

5. She probably thought they did have standing

[Recursion]

6. Because the standing argument is fairly strong, legally (nt)

[X_Digger]

13. +1 n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

8. She has often suggested she is not much in favor of gay people or our rights

I expected her to vote against us totally. She's very religious and says so, she is very much in love with Sonia's thoughts and Sonia's opinions. I do not care for Sotomayor as a person at all. Blech.

[justiceischeap]

9. But she voted in favor of defeating DOMA, didn't she? nt

[kestrel91316]

24. No, she apparently voted with the pro-8 minority.

[frazzled]

26. No she did not

She voted to decide the case on the merits. Even the two women in this case, just interviewed on MSNBC, said they were disappointed only that the case had not been decided on the merits ... Because that would have meant that ALL bans on same sex marriage in 37 states that don't allow it would be deemed unconstitutional, rather than just CA.

The "no standing" verdict was a lesser ruling.

Sotomayor was brave.

[PoliticAverse]

28. She voted with the majority to overturn the DOMA. n/t

[KamaAina]

38. Those are two different cases

She voted right on DOMA and wrong on Prop H8.

[morningfog]

42. She did not vote wrong on Prop 8.

She found standing, which is not the same as supporting Prop 8.

[KamaAina]

46. What if one other justice had voted that way?

Where would we be? Waiting for a ruling on the merits next term, with no guarantee of success? (Although Kennedy doing the right thing on DOMA would certainly point that way.)

[morningfog]

47. They heard argument on the merits, they just didn't decide.

We would have had an opinion today on the merits of Judge Walker's opinion. I think it would have been a good one, too. Walker's went further than the DOMA's case.

[morningfog]

41. There was no "Pro-8" minority.

There was an "pro-standing" minority. THat is a huge difference.

[Drunken Irishman]

10. lol wat

Since she often says she is against gay people, I assume you have an abundance of quotes proving this?

[frazzled]

11. That is bull

How do you explain her vote to strike down DOMA?

How do you explain her famous takedown of the Prop 8 proponent lawyer in the arguments in that case earlier this year? (See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/sonia-sotomayor-gay-marriage_n_2965105.html )

The Justices did not divide ideologically on the Prop 8 case: it was about whether it should be rejected for no standing (which Scalia and Roberts joined in on) or decided actively, on the merits.

If you want to call Sotomayor homophobic, I would (just as illogically perhaps) have to call you out as prejudiced against Latinas.

[Renew Deal]

33. Because she clearly not much in favor of gay people.

It's so obvious. Why don't you people get it?
















Do I really need a sarcasm tag?

[RudynJack]

20. "often suggested"?

That's bullshit.

[Renew Deal]

32. Quotes? Links?

[msanthrope]

35. Kindly cite what you are claiming? nt

[Skinner]

37. Please provide some evidence to back up the claim...

"She has often suggested she is not much in favor of gay people or our rights"

Thank you.

[CreekDog]

44. not posting one example of this when you said it's happened "often" speaks against your statement

[rurallib]

12. I think in an odd way both sides sort of voted to drop Prop 8

have to wait for the opinions - but one side said no standing and it dropped back to the last decision of the Calif. Supreme Court - Prop 8 illegal.
The other side appear to have wanted it decided on merit and surely a couple of them - I think Sotomayer and Kennedy - may have voted to strike it down

[justiceischeap]

14. Thanks! nt

[RudynJack]

15. Because she didn't agree

with remanding it on standing grounds.

[justiceischeap]

16. So, if I understand correctly, she felt SCOTUS

DID have the right to rule on it?

[RudynJack]

21. She didn't write her own

dissenting opinion, but I would say yes, that's the presumption. The opinion and dissent did not discuss the merits - they discussed the issue of standing.

[morningfog]

43. Yes, that is exactly it. She felt standing had been conferred by the CA supreme court.

She wanted to rule on the merits.

[malthaussen]

17. I'm guessing she wanted a ruling.

I'm further guessing she expected that the ruling would be against the plaintiff, thus making a stronger statement than dropping the case for lack of standing. Given the DOMA vote, it is reasonable to think the Prop 8 vote would have resulted in another snappy 5-4 ruling.

-- Mal

[sweetloukillbot]

48. I'm not sure...

Wasn't Kennedy pretty hostile towards the Prop. 8 case? I think if they voted on merits it would've been 5-4 against, Conservative vs. Liberals.

[BainsBane]

18. The issue was whether a private citizen had standing

to challenge constitutionality. That was the legal issue they decided on. You should be able to find the dissent posted on SCOTUS blog in a while so you can read it.

[JW2020]

19. Probably because she's Roman Catholic

[justiceischeap]

22. Again, she voted to strike down DOMA. So, that dog don't hunt. nt

[Puzzledtraveller]

23. but they love that dog so much!

[pnwmom]

25. Like Scalia isn't? No, that had nothing to do with it. 6 of the Justices are R.C. by the way.

[onenote]

30. And she wasn't RC when she voted to strike down DOMA?

Did you give any thought to what you posted? Did you consider, for example, that two RC justices (Roberts and Scalia) were on the other side of Sotomayor on the standing issue?

[RudynJack]

31. So you think she'd

overturn Roe v Wade?

I don't know why it's so hard to understand - she never said a word about the merits of Prop 8. She simply didn't want to dismiss on standing.

[Renew Deal]

34. So is Scalia

And she supported the DOMA case.

Any other guesses?

[elleng]

27. Read the dissent.

http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/717708/supreme-court-decision-in-hollingsworth-v-perry.pdf

[dsc]

36. The issue in this decision was who gets to defend initiatives

The majority said that in order to defend the initiative you have to be an agent of the state. The dissent said that the state supreme court should be able to decide who will defend the initiative in court. The majority decision means that if a state refuses to defend a law in federal court there is no remedy for those who want to see the law defended.

[dbackjon]

39. Which, while great on this one

Is troubling overall.

[dsc]

45. yea it is a bad thing for other cases