#LGBT #EqualityDay June 26 Anniversaries: Obergefell (2015), Windsor (2013) and Lawrence (2003)

Today is a big day in LGBT equality. Three landmark Supreme Court decisions have previously been announced on June 26 (2003, 2013 and 2015), all written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired last  year and was replaced by Brett Kavanaugh. Respectively, these cases overturned bans on private non-commercial sexual conduct (Lawrence v Texas), struck down the  Defense of Marriage Act which purported to prohibit recognition of legal same-sex marriages by the federal government (United States v Windsor) and struck down all state laws banning marriages of same-sex couples (Obergefell v Hodges).

Tomoorow is the last day of the 2018-2019 Supreme Court term and some existing cases (on the legality of partisan gerrymandering and pretextual manipulation of the 2020 Census for partisan gain by the Trump administration) will be decided.

Fingers crossed!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Today in Church-State Separation Case

Today the United States Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in an important case involving the separation of church and state. The case is The American Legion v. American Humanist Association and involves a 93-year-old World War 1 memorial called the Bladensburg Peace Cross erected on public lands and maintained using public funds in Bladensburg, Maryland.

The questions before the Court are:

(1) Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross; (2) whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under the tests articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, Van Orden v. Perry, Town of Greece v. Galloway or some other test; and (3) whether, if the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman applies, the expenditure of funds for the routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment.

NPR's Nina Totenberg claims that the Court is expected to reverse the 4th Circuit's holding that the monument has the "primary effect of endorsing religion and excessively entangles the government in religion." The real question is how far will the Court's conservative majority go in dismantling the wall between church and state in this case?

Hat/tip to SCOTUSblog

POLL: More Oppose Kavanaugh #SCOTUS Nomination Than Support It

Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's choice to replace Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court now has the dubious distinction to become the first high court nominee  in modern history to have more people expressing opposition to his elevation than support it.

NBC News reports:

In the poll — which was conducted Sunday (when the accusation from Christine Blasey Ford was first made public) through Wednesday — 38 percent of voters say they oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination to serve on the nation’s highest court, including 27 percent who “strongly” oppose him. 

That’s compared with 34 percent who support his nomination, including 25 percent who “strongly” support him. Twenty-eight percent say they don’t enough to have an opinion.

The support for Kavanaugh has gotten worse over time.

The next Supreme Court term begins October 1.