Supreme Court, Same-Sex Marriage, and the 'War' on Judges | Bloomberg Law

Supreme Court's Decision on Same-Sex Marriage

• 📌 The Supreme Court has rejected an effort to overturn its 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage, leaving intact a jury verdict against former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis.
• ⚖️ Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing religious objections, and has been litigating for nearly a decade.
• ⚠️ While the court denied certiorari, the broader effort to destabilize marriage equality remains a concern, drawing parallels to the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade.
• 🏛️ The current Supreme Court has shifted significantly to the right since the 5-4 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, with new justices appointed since then.

Substantive Due Process and Judicial Philosophy

• 🧠 Justice Clarence Thomas has argued that the Constitution does not protect fundamental rights like marriage equality, contraception, and abortion, advocating for the reconsideration of substantive due process precedents.
• 📜 Substantive due process protects fundamental rights from government interference, including rights related to individual autonomy, contraception, parental rights, and private sexual relationships.
• 🚫 If more justices adopted Thomas's position, states could potentially refuse to recognize same-sex marriages or criminalize abortion if Obergefell and Roe v. Wade were overturned.
• ⚖️ The legal analysis for interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia) may differ due to its strong ties to the prohibition on race discrimination, though the underlying principle of government restriction on marriage remains a point of discussion.

Transgender Rights and Passport Policy

• 🛂 The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to require passports to be marked with the sex assigned at birth, reversing a policy allowing passports to reflect a person's gender identity.
• 🚫 This decision reverses a policy in place for 33 years across six presidential administrations, impacting transgender Americans' ability to travel with documents matching their identity.
• 😥 The court's unsigned order stated that displaying sex at birth is like displaying country of birth, ignoring the real-world harmful consequences for transgender individuals, including accusations of fraud and scrutiny at borders.
• 📜 The Trump administration's executive order on the first day of his term directed the State Department to stop issuing passports consistent with gender identity and remove the 'X' gender marker option.
• ⚖️ The court's reasoning is criticized as flawed, as gender markers on passports are used for accuracy checks, unlike country of birth, and the policy change potentially violates the Paperwork Reduction Act by not allowing for public comment.

'War' on Federal Judges and the Judiciary

• 🗣️ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch described the Trump administration's stance as a 'war' against federal judges and