Tuesday's ruling, by yet another Bush-appointed judge, Candy Dale [pictured], in yet another conservative state, hardcore Idaho, is the sixteenth consecutive win in court for marriage equality since the Supremes' landmark Windsor decision last June. The number of court defeats since then is zero. Twelve of the sixteen wins have been in federal court and four in state courts. Most recently it's been red states all the way: Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, and purply Virginia. Almost all states have been granted a stay pending appeals, to the relief of bigots like Idaho's governor, Butch Otter. Last week in Arkansas, gay marriages began in a few counties; surprisingly, a higher court noted a technicality, which halted the weddings; the judge has since closed that loophole paving the way for clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; but now the Democrat AG who supports gay marriage is upholding state law and requesting another stay.
Gay marriage is legal in seventeen states and DC. This is how far we've come in exactly ten years. Massachusetts began issuing same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004.
FYI: Judge Dale is a Magistrate Judge, which means she isn't a presidential appointee. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_magistrate_judge
Posted by: APJ | May 16, 2014 at 02:19 PM
Sorry BoT, you've got lawyer-geek readers.
Idaho has two federal district court judges -- one appointed by President George H.W. Bush and the other appointed by President Clinton -- and they're the ones who voted to appoint Dale. So W had nothing to do, even indirectly, with the appointment of Magistrate Judge Dale. Let this not obscure the fact that this happened in IDAHO.
Posted by: Jack | May 17, 2014 at 05:55 PM