<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Courtesy of Buzzfeed at:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/idaho-and-nevado-marriage-bans-are-unconstitutional-federal#1ztzq3d" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/idaho-and-nevado-marriage-bans-are-unconstitutional-federal#1ztzq3d</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-------------------------------------</span></div><div><h1 id="post-title" style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: normal; clear: left;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Idaho And Nevada Marriage Bans Are Unconstitutional, Federal Appeals Court Rules</span></font></h1><p class="sub_buzz_desc" style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-right: 5px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WASHINGTON — Idaho and Nevada’s bans on same-sex couples’ marriages are unconstitutional, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 16px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-right: 5px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing for the panel, applied additional scrutiny to the claimed sexual orientation discrimination the same-sex couples in the two states faced by the bans. The 9th Circuit heald earlier this year that such additional scrutiny — heightened scrutiny — applies to sexual orientation claims.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 16px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-right: 5px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He wrote:</span></p><blockquote style="margin: 20px 12px 20px 18px; padding: 10px 20px; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(225, 232, 237); outline: 0px; quotes: none; width: auto; overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-right: 5px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We hold that the Idaho and Nevada laws at issue violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they deny lesbians and gays who wish to marry persons of the same sex a right they afford to individuals who wish to marry persons of the opposite sex, and do not satisfy the heightened scrutiny standard we adopted in SmithKline</span></p></blockquote></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Read the court's opinion . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1310879/idaho-9th-circuit.pdf" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1310879/idaho-9th-circuit.pdf</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-------------------------------------</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What more can I say, but . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><b><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Oh Happy Day"</i></b></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Oh_Happy_Day.mp3" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Oh_Happy_Day.mp3</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An offer by <b><i>Moscow Cares</i></b>: Once the state of Idaho overcomes it's serious case of CRS (Cranial Rectal Syndrome) and same-sex marriages are legally recognized by the state (hopefully very VERY soon), <i>Moscow Cares</i> will contribute significantly to Moscow's first same-sex wedding ceremony and subsequent reception. Wedding to be conducted at East City Park or Friendship Square.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares"</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></body></html>