A14
Saturday, 06.27.2015 The Daily Herald
Ruling From Page A1
“This court is not a legislature. Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in dissent. Roberts read a summary of his dissent from the bench, the first time he has done so in nearly 10 years as chief justice. “If you are among the many Americans — of whatever sexual orientation — who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision,” Roberts said. “But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.” Justice Antonin Scalia said he was not concerned so much about samesex marriage as “this court’s threat to American democracy.” He termed
the decision a “judicial putsch.” Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also dissented. Several religious organizations criticized the decision. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it was “profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.” Kennedy said nothing in the court’s ruling would force religions to condone, much less perform, weddings to which they object. And he said the couples seeking the right to marry should not have to wait for the political branches of government to act. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution requires states to allow same-sex couples to marry on the same basis as heterosexuals, he said “The dynamic of our constitutional system is that individuals need not
Reaction From Page A1
Institute of Washington. “Like the Roe v. Wade decision did not end the debate on abortion, this is definitely not going to end the debate over marriage.” Before Friday’s ruling, Washington was one of the many states where samesex couples could legally marry. Then-Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Washington’s same-sex marriage law in February 2012. Days later a coalition of faith groups formed Preserve Marriage Washington and launched an effort to repeal the law with Referendum 74. The attempt failed when voters upheld the law in November. That same night voters supported gay marriage laws in Maine
and Maryland. “I think that was a watershed moment. Voters voted for marriage equality and sent a strong message to the court and society,” said Sen. Marko Liias, D-Lynnwood, who is gay and worked tirelessly for passage of the ballot measure. “I’m proud Washington played such an important role in helping turn around the country’s understanding of this issue.” Reaction on Friday generally reflected the fault line penned in the court’s multiple opinions. “We’ve been anticipating this for a long time. I didn’t see how they could come down any other way,” said Tom Blossom, of Monroe, who just finished 16 years as president of Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays.
await legislative action before asserting a fundamental right. The nation’s courts are open to injured individuals who come to them to vindicate their own direct, personal stake in our basic charter,” Kennedy wrote in his fourth major opinion in support of gay rights since 1996. It came on the anniversary of two of those earlier decisions. “No union is more profound than marriage,” Kennedy wrote, joined by the court’s four more liberal justices. The stories of the people asking for the right to marry “reveal that they seek not to denigrate marriage but rather to live their lives, or honor their spouses’ memory, joined by its bond,” Kennedy said. As he read his opinion, spectators in the courtroom wiped away tears when the import of the decision became clear. One of those in the audience was James Obergefell,
the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court fight. Outside, Obergefell held up a photo of his late spouse, John Arthur, and said the ruling establishes that “our love is equal.” He added, “This is for you, John.” Obama placed a congratulatory phone call to Obergefell, which he took amid a throng of reporters outside the courthouse. Speaking a few minutes later at the White House, Obama praised the decision as an affirmation of the principle that “all Americans are created equal.” The crowd in front of the courthouse at the top of Capitol Hill grew in the minutes following the ruling. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Motorists honked their horns in support as they passed by the crowd, which included a smattering of same-sex marriage opponents.
The ruling will not take effect immediately because the court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration. But county clerks in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas began issuing licenses to same-sex couples within hours of the decision. The cases before the court involved laws from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Those states have not allowed same-sex couples to marry within their borders, and they also have refused to recognize valid marriages from elsewhere. Just two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law that denied a range of government benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Justices Stephen Breyer,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor formed the majority with Kennedy on Friday, the same lineup as two years ago. The earlier decision in United States v. Windsor did not address the validity of state marriage bans, but courts across the country, with few exceptions, said its logic compelled them to invalidate state laws that prohibited gay and lesbian couples from marrying. There are an estimated 390,000 married samesex couples in the United States, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans. Another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next three years, the institute says. Roughly 1 million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the United States, the institute says.
To him, the debate on marriage is over. “I just think they are on the wrong side of history,” he said. “How do you take away rights that are granted.?” John West of Edmonds said he was “very disappointed” by the outcome. “I felt they did not interpret the Constitution. I think they were writing law,” he said. “It doesn’t shake my faith in the Lord I worship. It continues to disappoint me the decisions that are rendered by governmental leaders.” Anne Levinson, a Seattle attorney who advised the campaign that pushed to legalize same-sex marriage, described Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion as a “strong ruling because of the clarity throughout that constitutional protections must apply equally to all Americans, and because of the thoughtful way the court explained how being
excluded from those constitutional guarantees has harmed so many of lives for so long.” Levinson took issue with the contentions of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia that states, and their voters, should retain the power to define marriage. “Had they in their lifetimes ever been denied the right to marry, the right to vote or any other rights guaranteed others by our Constitution, they would not blithely opine that rights need not be afforded until each state legislature or populace votes to do so,” Levinson wrote in an email. “Nor would they be willing to risk those rights being taken away at any time by popular vote or legislative whim.” But opponents of gay marriage embraced the dissents. They said Friday’s ruling leaves many millions of Americans upset that the
court robbed them of an opportunity to decide the law for their state. “The Supreme Court choked off that debate and told the American people that your opinion doesn’t matter,” Backholm said. Larry Stickney, a former Arlington resident and longtime voice of the antigay marriage movement, said the ruling was the work of a “rogue court.” “It is a sad day for America,” said Stickney, who now lives near Colville in eastern Washington. “But it absolutely does not end the debate.” Backholm said the cultural conversation and legal scuffling will continue as people and businesses run by those who don’t believe in gay marriage are forced to conform to avoid lawsuits. “People of faith should be able to live out their beliefs in the public square without being silenced
to the four walls of their homes and churches,” he said. “This decision poses a tremendous threat to religious liberties and will have future ramifications on schools, churches, nonprofits, and private businesses.” Not every religious leader who opposes samesex marriage expressed frustration Friday. “To me the sky is not falling, the world is not ending,” said Russell Johnson, of Everett, the 29-year-old pastor of a new Snohomish church named The PursuitNW. “That’s because at the end of the day we’re not held accountable to the Supreme Court. We are held accountable to the Supreme Being. “Do we support same-sex marriage? No. Do we support same-sex people? Yes,” he said. “We support them in their journey by loving them into a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.”
888-705-0417 rodlandtoyota.com 2013 Scion TC
2012 Toyota
2014 Toyota Prius Two
Prius Three
#36014J
#33222A
WAS $18,995 $
WAS $18,995 $
17,011
18,561
#32486A
WAS $19,995 $
19,562
2013 Toyota Camry
2014 Toyota Prius #35985J
#36006J
WAS $20,995 $
19,581
WAS $21,995 $
19,782
2014 Toyota Prius Two # 35984J
WAS $21,995 $
19,859
2014 Toyota Yaris
2014 Toyota Prius Two $14,561 #35992J WAS $20,995 ................................... SALE $20,156 2014 Toyota Yaris 2014 Toyota Camry SE #36023J WAS $15,995 .................................. SALE $14,852 #36008J WAS $20,995 ................................... SALE $20,421 2012 Scion xB 2014 Toyota Rav4 LE #36011J WAS $16,995 ................................... SALE $15,451 #35970J WAS $23,995 ................................... SALE $21,752 2012 Scion TC 2011 Toyota Venza #35950JA WAS $16,995 ................................. SALE $16,265 #35979J WAS $25,995 ................................... SALE $23,132 2012 Toyota Prius Two 2012 Toyota Rav4 Limited #33159A WAS $20,995................................... SALE $18,127 #36029J WAS #25,995 ................................... SALE $25,126 2014 Toyota Corolla 2012 Toyota Tacoma #30914T WAS $20,995 ................................... SALE $18,561 #36012J WAS $32,995 ................................... SALE $31,056 2014 Toyota Prius 2014 Mazda Mazda3 #35983J WAS $21,995 .................................. SALE $19,827 #33270A2 WAS $24,995................................. SALE $31,425 #36005J WAS $15,995 .................................. SALE
2014 Toyota Tacoma
2014 Toyota Avalon XLE #35981J
WAS $27,995 $
25,604
2013 Toyota Sequoia Limited
#33481A
WAS $32,995 $
32,357
#33093A
WAS $49,995 $
49,068
2013 Toyota Tacoma
#36024J WAS $32,995 ................................... SALE
$31,564
#36015J WAS $31,995 ................................... SALE
$31,784
#31890A WAS $34,995 ................................. SALE
$31,981
#36007J WAS $33,995 ................................... SALE
$31,999
#36033J WAS $32,995 .................................. SALE
$32,561
#30565D ......................................................... SALE
$41,995
#32962A WAS $48,995................................... SALE
$44,259
2013 Toyota Tacoma
2013 Toyota Highlander 2013 Toyota Tacoma 2013 Toyota Tacoma
2014 Toyota Highlander
2014 Toyota Tundra Platinum
OVER 100 USED CARS IN STOCK 2007 Toyota Corolla
2012 Nissan Frontier $9,251 #36016J WAS $19,995 ................................... SALE $18,756 2012 VW GTI 2006 Chevy Trailblazer #33194B WAS $9,995....................................... SALE $9,314 #33551A ........................................................ SALE $18,995 2010 Chevy Traverse 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT #33154A WAS $11,995................................... SALE $10,986 #35966JA WAS $19,995 ................................. SALE $19,425 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander 2009 Scion xB #32781B WAS $12,995................................... SALE $11,894 #33000A WAS $19,995................................... SALE $19,531 2008 GMC Sierra 1500 2008 Dodge Durango #33300C WAS $15,995................................... SALE $15,432 #36031J WAS $22,995 ................................... SALE $22,156 2014 Ford Focus 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan #33186A WAS $16,995................................... SALE $16,654 #33260A WAS $23,995................................... SALE $22,751 #32858A WAS $9,995........................................ SALE
2011 Ford Escape XLT
SA$LE
#33462A WAS $15,995
15,462
WEEKLY SPECIAL
2013 Subaru Forester
#32855A WAS $24,995................................... SALE
$24,612
#33438B1 WAS $24,995................................. SALE
$24,851
#33645A WAS $25,995................................... SALE
$25,327
#36028J WAS $27,995 ................................... SALE
$26,951
#360325J WAS $31.995 ................................ SALE
$31,425
#36027J WAS $32,995 ................................... SALE
$32,351
2009 Toyota Tacoma 2013 Acura TSX
2013 GMC Terrain SLT
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2011 Chevy Silverado 1500
2003 Buick Regal LS #32885B WAS $6,995
SALE $6,231
1349843
CERTIFIED SUPERSTORE HUGE SELECTION!
888-705-0417 OVER 150 VEHICLES AVAILABLE! 7125 EVERGREEN WAY, EVERETT USED Vehicles one only and subject to prior sale. Expires 6/26/15.
2011 Chevy Cruize ECO #36021J
SA$LE Was $16,995
15,641