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ETA: I’ve added to this post, changed the tag and changed the subject. TIF stands for “Today in FAAFO”. FAAFO stands for “Fuck Around and Find Out”, and will be used to designate people who did something they had a lot of people warning them not to do or clear indications that it was a bad idea, and then afterwards regretted it and/or had to walk it back, or experienced backlash.
I specifically want to point out that Democrats did _not_ win at all, or did not win much or have not yet won in either Utah OR Georgia. And yet, Elections Have Consequences.
https://www.ajc.com/politics/fulton-county-judge-stops-enforcement-of-georgias-abortion-ban/7XKGMA3ZU5GGJFNVDXKM7TPTNE/
That might be behind a paywall, and who knows whether these links are stable.
Basically, Georgia passed an anti-abortion law in 2019 that was incompatible with pre-Dobbs Roe v. Wade. It took effect abruptly in July of 2022. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney struck down parts of that law due to the incompatibility with then-valid Roe v Wade, on account of passing an illegal law makes it null and void. McBurney used interesting language.
“This ruling is merely a reinforcement of what ought to be for everyone the uncontroversial notion that, if the judicial branch has declared a constitutional right, legislatures exceed their authority, improperly expand their role and fundamentally alter the balance struck by the separation of powers when they enact laws they know to be plainly and facially unconstitutional,” McBurney wrote. “Those laws are void upon passage.”
McBurney’s language suggests that he thinks this argument should _also_ persuade state legislatures elsewhere in the country, however, it’s pretty fucking novel. I’m fairly certain that a lot of Republicans around the country would love to be saved by this argument from the further effects of Dobbs.
“It’s unclear whether another attempt would pass the current makeup of the Legislature. The law narrowly passed the House in 2019, with a handful of Republicans voting against it, and the chamber’s GOP caucus has shrunk since then.
Edmonds, whose Georgia Life Alliance was involved with writing the 2019 law, said she doesn’t expect lawmakers to file similar legislation next year.”
The article wraps up with: “McBurney noted that he did not rule on the constitutionality of the law, but the fact that it was passed at a time when it was illegal to do so.”
So, you know, no more passing these test case laws until one of them works. Yay? It would be nice to go back to running legislation through legislatures.
Next up, over at WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/11/16/mormon-church-gay-marriage-lds/
No, LDS has not decided it’s okay to be gay-married. LOL. However, they have figured out that they need to stop fighting same sex marriage laws, and have.
In Utah, land of LDS, formerly known as the renegade Deseret, there are two Senators. One Senator used to be the governor of Massachusetts. While he was governor, same sex marriage became a right in Massachusetts. He fought very hard to roll that back and was comprehensively unsuccessful. While Mike Lee won re-election post-Dobbs with a simple majority (so it didn’t matter that there were other right-wing parties such as the Libertarian party running candidates that took some of the vote from him), it was _far_ closer than the LDS was likely comfortable with.
I’m sure the amendment explicitly preserving the right of religious organizations to discriminate was a factor in their decision to support the Respect for Marriage Act as well.
I specifically want to point out that Democrats did _not_ win at all, or did not win much or have not yet won in either Utah OR Georgia. And yet, Elections Have Consequences.
https://www.ajc.com/politics/fulton-county-judge-stops-enforcement-of-georgias-abortion-ban/7XKGMA3ZU5GGJFNVDXKM7TPTNE/
That might be behind a paywall, and who knows whether these links are stable.
Basically, Georgia passed an anti-abortion law in 2019 that was incompatible with pre-Dobbs Roe v. Wade. It took effect abruptly in July of 2022. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney struck down parts of that law due to the incompatibility with then-valid Roe v Wade, on account of passing an illegal law makes it null and void. McBurney used interesting language.
“This ruling is merely a reinforcement of what ought to be for everyone the uncontroversial notion that, if the judicial branch has declared a constitutional right, legislatures exceed their authority, improperly expand their role and fundamentally alter the balance struck by the separation of powers when they enact laws they know to be plainly and facially unconstitutional,” McBurney wrote. “Those laws are void upon passage.”
McBurney’s language suggests that he thinks this argument should _also_ persuade state legislatures elsewhere in the country, however, it’s pretty fucking novel. I’m fairly certain that a lot of Republicans around the country would love to be saved by this argument from the further effects of Dobbs.
“It’s unclear whether another attempt would pass the current makeup of the Legislature. The law narrowly passed the House in 2019, with a handful of Republicans voting against it, and the chamber’s GOP caucus has shrunk since then.
Edmonds, whose Georgia Life Alliance was involved with writing the 2019 law, said she doesn’t expect lawmakers to file similar legislation next year.”
The article wraps up with: “McBurney noted that he did not rule on the constitutionality of the law, but the fact that it was passed at a time when it was illegal to do so.”
So, you know, no more passing these test case laws until one of them works. Yay? It would be nice to go back to running legislation through legislatures.
Next up, over at WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/11/16/mormon-church-gay-marriage-lds/
No, LDS has not decided it’s okay to be gay-married. LOL. However, they have figured out that they need to stop fighting same sex marriage laws, and have.
In Utah, land of LDS, formerly known as the renegade Deseret, there are two Senators. One Senator used to be the governor of Massachusetts. While he was governor, same sex marriage became a right in Massachusetts. He fought very hard to roll that back and was comprehensively unsuccessful. While Mike Lee won re-election post-Dobbs with a simple majority (so it didn’t matter that there were other right-wing parties such as the Libertarian party running candidates that took some of the vote from him), it was _far_ closer than the LDS was likely comfortable with.
I’m sure the amendment explicitly preserving the right of religious organizations to discriminate was a factor in their decision to support the Respect for Marriage Act as well.
