Obama admin asks SC to overturn gay marriage ban
3 March 2013 5:23 AM IST
Making its strongest declaration in support of gay rights, US President Barack Obama’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn California’s same-sex marriage ban and turn a skeptical eye on similar prohibitions across the country.
‘Throughout history, we have seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in discrimination,’ Attorney General Eric Holder said. ‘The issues before the Supreme Court in this case and the Defence of Marriage Act case are not just important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal benefits and rights under our laws, but to our Nation as a whole,’ he said in a statement. However, the Obama Administration fell short of declaring its support for a constitutional right to gay marriage that would immediately apply in all 50 states, as was being urged by many.
In its submission before the SC, the Obama Administration said by depriving same sex couples of the right to marry denies them the dignity respect and stature accorded similarly situated opposite sex couples under the State Law. Separately, the California’s Indian-American Attorney General Kamala Harris, also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the United States Supreme Court arguing that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and the initiative’s sponsors do not have the right to claim to represent the interests of California.
‘US PREZ ADVISOR DIDN’T THREATEN WOODWARD’
US President Barack Obama’s top economic advisor has been accused of threatening eminent American journalist Bob Woodward, a charge denied by the White House.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Gene Sperling, Obama’s economic advisor, was ‘incredibly respectful’ to him in an email exchange. Woodward, whose reporting on the Watergate scandal led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, said he would regret writing an article arguing that Obama had moved the goalposts in negotiations over how to reduce America’s USD 845 billion budget deficit.
Sperling ‘was incredibly respectful’ to Woodward, referred to him as his friend, and apologised for raising his voice, Carney said referring to the email exchange between the two, which was made public by Politico.
‘I think you cannot read those emails and come away with the impression that Gene was threatening anybody, as I think others have observed. I wish that reporters would pay attention to the policy substance of that email.’
‘Throughout history, we have seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in discrimination,’ Attorney General Eric Holder said. ‘The issues before the Supreme Court in this case and the Defence of Marriage Act case are not just important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal benefits and rights under our laws, but to our Nation as a whole,’ he said in a statement. However, the Obama Administration fell short of declaring its support for a constitutional right to gay marriage that would immediately apply in all 50 states, as was being urged by many.
In its submission before the SC, the Obama Administration said by depriving same sex couples of the right to marry denies them the dignity respect and stature accorded similarly situated opposite sex couples under the State Law. Separately, the California’s Indian-American Attorney General Kamala Harris, also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the United States Supreme Court arguing that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and the initiative’s sponsors do not have the right to claim to represent the interests of California.
‘US PREZ ADVISOR DIDN’T THREATEN WOODWARD’
US President Barack Obama’s top economic advisor has been accused of threatening eminent American journalist Bob Woodward, a charge denied by the White House.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Gene Sperling, Obama’s economic advisor, was ‘incredibly respectful’ to him in an email exchange. Woodward, whose reporting on the Watergate scandal led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, said he would regret writing an article arguing that Obama had moved the goalposts in negotiations over how to reduce America’s USD 845 billion budget deficit.
Sperling ‘was incredibly respectful’ to Woodward, referred to him as his friend, and apologised for raising his voice, Carney said referring to the email exchange between the two, which was made public by Politico.
‘I think you cannot read those emails and come away with the impression that Gene was threatening anybody, as I think others have observed. I wish that reporters would pay attention to the policy substance of that email.’
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