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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe DOJs new anti-gay legal posture just got shut down in federal court
NEW YORKThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit had a burning question for Donald Trumps Department of Justice on Tuesday: What are you doing in our courthouse? By the end of the day, the answer still wasnt clear. Something else was, though: The DOJs new anti-gay legal posture is not going to be received with open arms by the federal judiciary.
The Justice Departments latest wound was fully self-inflicted, as Tuesdays arguments in Zarda v. Altitude Express should not have involved the DOJ in the first place. The case revolves around a question of statutory interpretation: whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws anti-gay workplace discrimination. Title VII bars employment discrimination because of sex, which many federal courts have interpreted to encompass sexual orientation discrimination. The 2nd Circuit is not yet one of them, and Chief Judge Robert Katzmann signaled recently that he would like to change that. So on Tuesday, all of the judges convened to consider joining the chorus of courts that believe Title VII already prohibits anti-gay discrimination in the workplace.
Its important to understand some background before getting further into how those arguments went. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided in 2015 that Title VIIs ban on sex discrimination does protect gay employees. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department took no position on this question. But in late July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions DOJ unexpectedly filed an amicus brief in Zarda arguing that Title VII does not protect gay people. The 2nd Circuit had not solicited its input, making the brief both puzzling and gratuitous. Its purpose only became apparent in September, when the DOJ filed a similarly uninvited brief asserting that bakers have a free speech right not to serve same-sex couples. Both anti-gay briefs were startlingly incoherent, seemingly the product of political pandering rather than legal reasoning.
...
When arguments concluded, it seemed inevitable that the court would agree with the EEOC, reject the DOJs wackadoodle theories, and find that Title VII already proscribes anti-gay employment discrimination. After Tuesdays performance, the Justice Departments involvement in the case may have actually swung a judge or two away from its position; its flagrantly political intrusion seemed to irk even the Republican appointees. Anti-gay activists may have taken control of the DOJbut they seem unlikely to persuade the 2nd Circuit that Americas gay employees dont deserve civil rights.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/09/the_doj_s_new_anti_gay_legal_posture_just_got_shut_down_in_federal_court.html
The Justice Departments latest wound was fully self-inflicted, as Tuesdays arguments in Zarda v. Altitude Express should not have involved the DOJ in the first place. The case revolves around a question of statutory interpretation: whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws anti-gay workplace discrimination. Title VII bars employment discrimination because of sex, which many federal courts have interpreted to encompass sexual orientation discrimination. The 2nd Circuit is not yet one of them, and Chief Judge Robert Katzmann signaled recently that he would like to change that. So on Tuesday, all of the judges convened to consider joining the chorus of courts that believe Title VII already prohibits anti-gay discrimination in the workplace.
Its important to understand some background before getting further into how those arguments went. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided in 2015 that Title VIIs ban on sex discrimination does protect gay employees. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department took no position on this question. But in late July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions DOJ unexpectedly filed an amicus brief in Zarda arguing that Title VII does not protect gay people. The 2nd Circuit had not solicited its input, making the brief both puzzling and gratuitous. Its purpose only became apparent in September, when the DOJ filed a similarly uninvited brief asserting that bakers have a free speech right not to serve same-sex couples. Both anti-gay briefs were startlingly incoherent, seemingly the product of political pandering rather than legal reasoning.
...
When arguments concluded, it seemed inevitable that the court would agree with the EEOC, reject the DOJs wackadoodle theories, and find that Title VII already proscribes anti-gay employment discrimination. After Tuesdays performance, the Justice Departments involvement in the case may have actually swung a judge or two away from its position; its flagrantly political intrusion seemed to irk even the Republican appointees. Anti-gay activists may have taken control of the DOJbut they seem unlikely to persuade the 2nd Circuit that Americas gay employees dont deserve civil rights.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/09/the_doj_s_new_anti_gay_legal_posture_just_got_shut_down_in_federal_court.html
The DoJ lawyer repeatedly answered questions from the judges with "Thats not appropriate for me to disclose" - as if, Slate points out, they were taking the fifth. Sessions seems to have ordered his flunkies to go to court to oppose another branch of government and make asses of themselves.
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The DOJs new anti-gay legal posture just got shut down in federal court (Original Post)
muriel_volestrangler
Sep 2017
OP
Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)1. On the wrong side of the Constitution, previous court decisions,
and with no real arguments behind them, yet they persist!
Mainly because they are too stupid and hateful to know they are stupid and hateful. To top it off, they are on the wrong side of history!
Soxfan58
(3,479 posts)2. My tax dollars
Are being used to fight FOR discrimination. That little fucking racist, gay bashing elf needs to go.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)3. But dont fret none, any all u ,,,,
Homophobic GOP Turds,,,, Alabama Cowboy Roy Moore is headed to DC to get this shit taken care of,,,,,,,,,
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)4. "Justice" dept.--what a joke!
Gothmog
(145,168 posts)5. Sessions is a racist idiot
Sessions also hates the LGBTQ community