SC Taxpayers Billed For Both Sides Of The Same-Sex Marriage Fight

I’ve often claimed that, down here in South Carolina, it’s not the heat, but the stupidity that’ll get you, and, well, my point has been proven yet again.

As has been happening around the good old US of A lately, when a state's same-sex marriage ban is ruled unconstitutional that state’s government officials unleash the hounds, er, lawyers, to defend the ban, to request stays and to file appeals

And those of us who live in those states, like South Carolina, get a little annoyed by that, because since our Attorney General Alan Wilson has refused to admit he’s lost, We The People of South Carolina, through our tax dollars, will pay for those appeals and the stays and the lawsuits. But, what many don’t realize is that it is not just the defense case the taxpayers will fund; we may also be responsible for the legal bills of the gay couples who successfully challenged South Carolina’s marriage ban.

See, federal law requires the losing party in cases involving basic constitutional rights to pay the legal fees of the winning plaintiffs and South Carolina just got its first bill from the seven Charleston attorneys who successfully challenged the state's same-sex marriage ban. Those attorneys have filed a petition in federal court seeking $152,709 in attorneys’ fees, which, if they are successful, will be paid for by, ahem, We The People of South Carolina.

And, since Wilson has vowed to continue defending South Carolina’s same-sex marriage laws in several other cases in both of the state’s federal district courts, those plaintiff's lawyers can ask to be reimbursed for their costs as well. And when Wilson loses those cases, all the way to the Supreme Court if he gets his way, We The People of South Carolina might be on the hook for those costs, too.

Yup, we’re paying to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and we’re paying to have the ban declared unconstitutional; we pay both sides.

But, and this is where I forget about how stupid some in South Carolina can be and a great big grin spreads across my face, any monies these seven attorneys are awarded will not be accepted by them; instead, they have announced plans to donate their fees to the LGBT rights groups that hired them to sue the state, including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the South Carolina Equality Coalition.

So, and this is where I smile, because I imagine this will irk Alan Wilson even more, the harder he fights to keep the ban in place, the more money it costs the people of South Carolina, and the more money gets donated to LGBT groups in the state.

Hmmm, maybe not so stupid after all?

via NCRM

What's Up With Marriage Equality In South Carolina?

It was almost a month ago that the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban; and it’s been just a few weeks since other states in that court’s jurisdiction have complied with the ruling, with both West Virginia and North Carolina deciding to let equality stand.

But one state refuses to budge and, well, any guesses which one it is? If you said South Carolina, order some grits and take a seat, you win.

Here’s what’s happening in South Carolina, where it’s not the heat it’s the stupidity.

In Columbia Federal Court, we are awaiting movement on the case of Bradacs v Nikki Haley and Alan Wilson, et al. This is the case for which The Will of the People Fund — on which Carlos and I are board members — was created.

The case is simple: South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Katherine Bradacs and her wife, US Air Force retiree Tracie Goodwin-Bradacs want South Carolina to recognize their legal marriage that was performed in Washington DC back in 2012.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a filing last month that the couple is suing the wrong people in the wrong court. He argued marriage is an issue for the state courts and that he and Governor Haley, the named defendants, lack the enforcement power over the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

But in a response this week, Carrie Warner and John Nichols, attorneys for the Bradacs, renewed their request that Judge Michelle Childs rule in their favor without a trial. They argued that federal suits are allowed against state officers who enforce unconstitutional laws and since the governor and attorney general are required to enforce the state constitution, they are the proper defendants.

And, down in Charleston, Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley applied for a same-sex marriage license last month and are asking that U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel issue a preliminary injunction preventing the state from enforcing its ban, effectively opening the way for same-sex marriages.

In a response to that case filed this past Monday, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he opposes the request and argues that “because this case seeks to decide the core question of two people’s marital status, it belongs in state court rather than federal court.” He also argues that the Charleston court should put a hold on the case until a decision in the Columbia case which is farther along in the legal process, or, in the case that Gergel issues a preliminary injunction, the injunction be put on hold until the state can appeal to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The same court, by the way, that has already ruled same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] and South Carolina Equity are suing South Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles in federal court in Greenville on behalf of three people who had same-sex marriages in other states and changed their surnames. The suit alleges that DMV officials refused to allow them to use the names on their licenses.

There’s the update, but let’s break it down very simply: say that Judge Childs rules favorably in the case of Bradacs v Haley, Wilson, et al, which she’ll have to do because a ruling from a higher court has already been given. Well, then Nikki Haley and her Little Lap Dog Alana Wilson will file an appeal and take their case to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who will, and I’ll put this in laymen’s terms and avoid the legalese, look at Haley and say, “Bitch, please! You’re wasting time and tax dollars. This case was decided in October. Take your hate, put it on a shelf and move on."

Undoubtedly, though, Nikki Haley who doesn’t understand when she is wrong — something she is most of the time — will them have Toto, er, Wilson, file an appeal to the US Supreme court and they will say, “Bitch please! We said we would let the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stand. You have no case. Go home.”

And then she might, after having wasted time she could have spent on governing the state, and tax payer dollars that could have gone to something more important t than the fight against equality.

I said this the other day, but I’ll say it again; back in the 1960s Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked a schoolhouse door to keep Black children from entering the schools. That is his legacy, being on the wrong side of the Civil Rights movement and literally standing in the way of equality.

By comparison, Nikki Haley is figuratively barring the door to marriage for same-sex couples in South Carolina, and that will be her legacy; she will be remembered for a few things, but one of the most prominent will be her fight against marriage equality even after the battle for equality has been won.

It’s time to step aside, Governor Haley; you’ve lost.

Build a bridge … and get over it.

What's This? A Republican With An Active Brain? Nope, I Was Wrong

Oh that wacky GOP. They’ve spent the better part of the last seven years refusing to work with the President on anything — even disagreeing with him on what to have for lunch — and then they shriek and bleat that he doesn’t do anything.

And toss into the mix — please, toss her in — the Mama Grizzly Bore™, that failed Vice presidential candidate who quit her own job as Governor because it was “too hard” so she could ‘write’ a book or two and go on reality TV, who has just pulled her head out of the ass of a Bull Moose on the Alaskan tundra to demand the impeachment of the Obama. 

And, of course, let’s not forget Weeper of the House, John Boehner, who spent Obama’s first and second terms leading the Do Nothing Parade, but has recently set down his spray tanner — a can of industrial strength Orange Rust-Oleum — long enough to file what just might be the most frivolous lawsuit in the history of lawsuits; and I’m counting the suit against McDonald’s that the woman who spilled her coffee in her lap filed.

Seriously? This is the best they can do? This is the best they have? Whiners and quitters and cartoon characters?

Well, maybe so, with the exception of one Republican, Representative Bob Goodlatte, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who spoke on-camera admitting that President Obama has NOT broken any laws to warrant impeachment.

On The Week with George Stephanopoulos Goodlatte told host George Stephanopoulos that House Republicans have absolutely no plan to impeach President Obama, not because they don’t want to, not because it would give them something to do after spending eight years sitting on their hands, and voting to repeal Obamacare, but because there’s nothing they can legally impeach him for:

“We are not working on or drawing up articles of impeachment. The Constitution is very clear as to what constitutes grounds for impeachment of the president of the United States. He has not committed the kind of criminal acts that call for that.”

Cue Mama Grizzly Bore™ falling face first into a bowl of Elk Stew.

Cue John Boehner bursting into tears.

Now, to be fair, as rational as Goodlatte sounds — and believe me, it was hard to type to word “rational” when talking about a member of the GOP — he does believe that Obama is not enforcing the laws in  many areas, like immigration, so he’s all for that Judge Judy lawsuit that Boehner has filed.

He claims that House Republicans are suing Obama to make sure Congress has the only power to pass laws but that begs the question I’ve been asking for seven years: what laws? This Congress, under the iron do-nothing fist of the GOP has literally done nothing in the last seven years and has been called the least-productive Congress in our history.

So, what laws does Goodlatte want Congress to pass? Jobs? Too busy. The environment? Ain’t no global warming. What? WHAT??

If Congress actually did something — if they even took one minute to try and work with the president — then Obama wouldn’t have to issue any executive orders; and let’s be queer, he’s issued far less than W and I didn’t hear the GOP complain about that hack.

Seriously, I want Judy to adjudicate that suit and eviscerate Boehner, and Goodlatte, on syndicated television.

But still, we have the highest ranking Republican on the very committee that would be responsible for bringing up articles of impeachment against President Obama saying it can’t be done because he’s done nothing wrong.

So, GOP, put away the dictator talk, stow away the tyrant rhetoric, and tell your Teabagger leaders enough with the Obama = Hitler sign, especially the misspelled ones, to have a seat.

You have no case.

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