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The misdirected in the Supreme Court. They have affirmed doom on this country

Discussion in '2003 Archive' started by Jailminister, Jun 26, 2003.

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  1. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Sex Ban


    By ANNE GEARAN
    The Associated Press
    Thursday, June 26, 2003; 10:29 AM


    WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay sex Thursday, ruling that the law was an unconstitutional violation of privacy.

    The 6-3 ruling reverses course from a ruling 17 years ago that states could punish homosexuals for what such laws historically called deviant sex.

    Laws forbidding homosexual sex, once universal, now are rare. Those on the books are rarely enforced but underpin other kinds of discrimination, lawyers for two Texas men had argued to the court.

    The men "are entitled to respect for their private lives," Kennedy wrote.

    "The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime," he said.

    Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer agreed with Kennedy in full. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor agreed with the outcome of the case but not all of Kennedy's rationale.

    Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

    "The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," Scalia wrote for the three. He took the unusual step of reading his dissent from the bench.

    "The court has taken sides in the culture war," Scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals."

    The two men at the heart of the case, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, have retreated from public view. They were each fined $200 and spent a night in jail for the misdemeanor sex charge in 1998.

    The case began when a neighbor with a grudge faked a distress call to police, telling them that a man was "going crazy" in Lawrence's apartment. Police went to the apartment, pushed open the door and found the two men having anal sex.

    As recently as 1960, every state had an anti-sodomy law. In 37 states, the statutes have been repealed by lawmakers or blocked by state courts.

    Of the 13 states with sodomy laws, four - Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri - prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. The other nine ban consensual sodomy for everyone: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

    Thursday's ruling apparently invalidates those laws as well.

    The Supreme Court was widely criticized 17 years ago when it upheld an antisodomy law similar to Texas'. The ruling became a rallying point for gay activists.

    Of the nine justices who ruled on the 1986 case, only three remain on the court. Rehnquist was in the majority in that case - Bowers v. Hardwick - as was O'Connor. Stevens dissented.

    A long list of legal and medical groups joined gay rights and human rights supporters in backing the Texas men. Many friend-of-the-court briefs argued that times have changed since 1986, and that the court should catch up.

    At the time of the court's earlier ruling, 24 states criminalized such behavior. States that have since repealed the laws include Georgia, where the 1986 case arose.

    Texas defended its sodomy law as in keeping with the state's interest in protecting marriage and child-rearing. Homosexual sodomy, the state argued in legal papers, "has nothing to do with marriage or conception or parenthood and it is not on a par with these sacred choices."

    The state had urged the court to draw a constitutional line "at the threshold of the marital bedroom."

    Although Texas itself did not make the argument, some of the state's supporters told the justices in friend-of-the-court filings that invalidating sodomy laws could take the court down the path of allowing same-sex marriage.

    The case is Lawrence v. Texas, 02-102.

    © 2003 The Associated Press

    [ June 27, 2003, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: Jailminister ]
     
    #1 Jailminister, Jun 26, 2003
  2. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    I knew the right-wing fundamentalist authoritarians who want to run everyone's lives, especially their bedrooms, would be upset by this.

    Perhaps the legitimate issue to focus on here is states' rights versus federal authority to overrule state laws.
     
    #2 KenH, Jun 26, 2003
  3. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    Can anyone tell me how anti-sodomy laws being overturned will affect me?
     
    #3 Johnv, Jun 26, 2003
  4. InHim2002

    InHim2002 New Member

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    the sky is falling! the sky is falling!
     
    #4 InHim2002, Jun 26, 2003
  5. stubbornkelly

    stubbornkelly New Member

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    Doom? Because they've ruled that the state can't interfere with consenting adults' sex lives? Pshaw. You're not affected. In fact, many heterosexuals in some states may no longer be felons now, if the effect is as it looks to be.
     
    #5 stubbornkelly, Jun 26, 2003
  6. Scott J

    Scott J Active Member
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    Actually, I don't care to run anyone's bedroom so strictly under those terms I am not upset by this. With citation of J. MacArthur's idea, the best remedy for this type of decadence is to evangelize our neighbors.

    However, this also represents an important step in legalizing homosexual marriage either by federal mandate or through the judiciary- an effort I oppose.
     
    #6 Scott J, Jun 26, 2003
  7. Rev. Joshua

    Rev. Joshua <img src=/cjv.jpg>

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    You can now live in North Carolina without fear of becoming a felon?

    [​IMG]

    Joshua

    The only queer people are those who don't love anybody. ~ Rita Mae Brown
     
    #7 Rev. Joshua, Jun 26, 2003
  8. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    Perhaps the question should be raised on what constitutional or natural rights grounds a government has any legitimacy in regulating marriage to begin with.
     
    #8 KenH, Jun 26, 2003
  9. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    WAKE UP PEOPLE, THAT IS, IF YOU HAVE EARS TO HEAR

    If you can't understand how this is a statement from our nations leading authority that says "we don't care if you practice perversion" and how this is just one more attack on the moral foundations that this nation was built on, then God HELP you. I guess you just want to be like irRev joshua and just put your stamp of approval on all perversions.
     
    #9 Jailminister, Jun 26, 2003
  10. Madelyn Hope

    Madelyn Hope New Member

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    I'm happy to hear about this ruling. Two consenting adults should have the right to engage in whatever sexual activity in their privacy of their homes.
     
    #10 Madelyn Hope, Jun 26, 2003
  11. stubbornkelly

    stubbornkelly New Member

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    They're finally saying that people have the right to choose what sexual activities they consent to. That's been a huge issue in the fight for personal freedom. It's the right direction in which to move.
     
    #11 stubbornkelly, Jun 26, 2003
  12. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    It's true that God calls homosexuality an abomination but it's not the job of our government to legislate morality. The last governing body that did that was the Taliban and, if I recall, that didn't work out all that well.
     
    #12 Mike McK, Jun 26, 2003
  13. Bro. James Reed

    Bro. James Reed New Member

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    I disagree. To an extent, ALL of our laws are based on morality. Morality is what keeps this from being an archaic state, which, I'm sorry to say, it looks like we're getting closer to.

    I just hope I'm not in San Francisco or Washington D.C. when God decides He's tired of these modern Sodom and Gomorrah's.

    This is a sad day for those of us who believe the Bible and what it teaches for and against. :(
     
    #13 Bro. James Reed, Jun 26, 2003
  14. massdak

    massdak Active Member
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    you know looking at the string of post on this thread is disturbing, i actually had to do a double take to make sure this was all on the baptist board. it is so sad to see all the liberal depraved opinions in favor of homosexual agendas. i wish i had the funds to pay liberal preachers and teachers a living just to resign and leave their office.
     
    #14 massdak, Jun 26, 2003
  15. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Not all, but some of you are SICK. Why dion't we just let the rapist, the pedophiles, the drug dealers, the murders, the child pornographers, etc. all out of jail. ZLet's just say there are NO laws, just do what ever you want to do. I SAY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!.
     
    #15 Jailminister, Jun 26, 2003
  16. massdak

    massdak Active Member
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    You can now live in North Carolina without fear of becoming a felon?

    [​IMG]

    Joshua

    The only queer people are those who don't love anybody. ~ Rita Mae Brown     </font>[/QUOTE]you know joshua your comment and your tag line is not close to what the bible talks about love. Real Love is Christ and to honor Him you should turn from your views.
     
    #16 massdak, Jun 26, 2003
  17. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    Everyone has the God-given right to do whatever they want as long as they do not interfere with someone else's God-given right.

    Everything that is a sin or unwise or stupid cannot be, and should not be, legislated against. That is a very slippery slope and conservative evangelicals, especially Baptists, should really be among the last ones to want to go down that slope, considering that in the early history of Baptists as an identifiable religious group a few hundred years ago the government persecuted Baptists because their views were considered heretical and therefore sinful.
     
    #17 KenH, Jun 26, 2003
  18. David Cooke Jr

    David Cooke Jr New Member

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    I regularly put murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and child pornographers in jail (As a matter of fact, I prosecuted a woman for stomping her three-year-old daughter to death just this week). But I'm glad we live in a country where the government has no say so in regulating what consenting adults do in their private moments. Beleiving in the principle of personal privacy does not mean you have sub-standard morals.
     
    #18 David Cooke Jr, Jun 26, 2003
  19. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    I must agree with KenH's last post, word for word.
     
    #19 Johnv, Jun 26, 2003
  20. Brett

    Brett New Member

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    Go back to the stone age where you belong. How dare you compare rapists, drug dealers, murderers, and child pornographers - people who bring tangible and genuine pain and misery onto others - with homosexuality, which is victimless. If you can't tell the difference between these in terms of civics - not necessarily theology - then we aren't the ones who need a lesson in morality.
     
    #20 Brett, Jun 26, 2003
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