Tag Archives: appeal

Minnesota Gay Couple Loses Appeal To Have Their 1971 Marriage License Recognized

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A  Minneapolis gay couple believed to be the first married in the United States in 1971 has lost another in a long line of battles to have their original marriage fully recognized. 

Jack Baker and Mike McConnell were married by a young Methodist minister in Mankato, MN in 1971. Baker had legally changed his name to the gender-neutral Pat Lynne McConnell to get the marriage license. By the time the state of MN figured  out that the bride was actually a male it was already too late. The two were officially married.

While Minnesota did try to null and void their marriage Baker and McConnell fought back furiously and predicted they would win eventually, but the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that their marriage was illegal. However, their license was never revoked

In September 2014, James McConnell mailed a letter to the Blue Earth County clerk and asked for a certified copy of the marriage certificate. The County Attorney’s Office informed McConnell that would not be possible,

A petition was filed in November 2016 requesting the district court order Blue Earth County to officially record the 1971 marriage license. The court refused and an appeal was filed.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has now upheld that refusal, pointing to the incorrect statements made on the marriage license application. The Court also found that the McConnell’s have not proven they have suffered a “particular harm” from not having their 1971 marriage recorded.

Kim Davis Appeals Contempt Ruling, Bigot Rally Set for Sept. 8th Starring: Mike Huckabee and Other Miscreants

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Kim Davis Mugshot

Kim Davis Appeals Contempt Ruling,  Bigot Rally Set for Sept. 8th Starring: Mike Huckabee and Other Miscreants

The anti-gay Liberty Counsel law group today filed notice that they are appealing the contempt ruling that has jailed Kim Davis since Thursday.

Reuters reports:

“The contempt order itself was unlawful,” Roger Gannam, a lawyer for Davis, told Reuters. Gannam is an attorney with Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian religious advocacy organization that said it would back her legal fight. The notice of appeal was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and officially starts the appeals process. In Davis’ absence on Friday, deputy clerks issued marriage licenses to at least four same-sex couples at the offices in Morehead, Kentucky, where rival groups of demonstrators supporting Davis and the applicants protested outside. Bunning had ordered Davis in August to issue the licenses. Her request for a stay of his order was denied by a U.S. appeals court and by the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, she is waiting for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, to rule on her request to set aside Bunning’s ruling. In denying the request for a stay on the order, the appeals court said there was little chance she would prevail.

It appears that the latest appeal will also be filed with the Sixth Circuit Court which has been ruling against Davis since her Martyrdom in 10 Easy Steps quest began

Meanwhile anti-gay bigots, hate groups, and waana-be GOP politicians and getting in line to support the serial adulterer, dog-napper and homophobic loon.

Certified anti-gay hate groups such as The Liberty Counsel, The National Oganization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, and the Concerned Women for Women are all lining up to make a buck and spew bullshit in her faux defense.

The rally will be held by GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckerbee (who is currently polling in the low single digits.) an ardent opponent of same-sex marriage and all things “gay”, and will meet with the rightfully jailed Rowan County clerk before the rally.

A petition on Huckabee’s website calls on President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Judge David Bunning to release Davis from jail.

 

Tenth Circuit Court DENIES Marriage Stay In Xmas Eve Order, Utah To Appeal to SCOTUS

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Utah stay

 

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has AGAIN denied the state of Utah’s request to stop same-sex couples’ marriages in Utah. “Having considered the district court’s decision and the parties’ arguments concerning the stay factors, we conclude that a stay is not warranted,” Judges Jerome Holmes and Robert Bacharach wrote in an order signed by court clerk Elisabeth Shumaker for the court.

The denial means that a Friday decision by Judge Robert Shelby striking down the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying will remain in place, for now.

But Mormon and GOP controlled Utah refuses to give up and the state plans to appeal to the high court Thursday, seeking an immediate stop to gay and lesbian couples from being granted marriage licenses.

Each circuit court is assigned to a particular Supreme Court justice for appeals. Utah will appeal to Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  Sotomayor will have the option of considering the state’s request herself or referring it to the full court. If she considers and denies the state’s request for a stay, Utah’s last option would be to appeal to the full Supreme Court.

Legal experts predict that the chances of getting a stay from Justice Sotomayort are slim to none after the rulings from the two lower courts that already refused to stop same-sex marriages in Utah.

Sonia Sotomayor was also in the majority of striking down the key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the misnamed anti-gay-marriage law enacted almost seventeen years ago .