Posted on 05/27/2014 11:54:53 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Pennsylvania's Republican Gov. Tom Corbett decided not to challenge a federal judge's ruling overturning his state's same-sex marriage ban after an "immense struggle" due to "his religious beliefs based on his Catholic upbringing and teachings," an aide says.
"The governor personally struggled immensely with this decision," Corbett's chief of staff, Leslie Gromis Baker, tells Philly.com. "Prior to the opinion being released, the governor was conflicted between his personal and religious beliefs based on his Catholic upbringing and teachings, and the legal arguments that were made in Judge Jones' opinion."
"Given the high legal threshold set forth by Judge Jones in this case, the case is extremely unlikely to succeed on appeal," Corbett said in a statement Wednesday, the day after Judge John E. Jones III overturned the state's 1996 law defining marriage as between men and women.
"Therefore, after review of the opinion and on the advice of my Commonwealth legal team, I have decided not appeal," said Corbett, who's just won the GOP's primary in pursuit of a re-election bid. He added though that he personally believes "that marriage is between one man and one woman."
When the ruling came, Corbett was preparing to be re-nominated, the governor's aides were quoted as saying. After the primary-night party in Pittsburgh, Corbett took home the judgment and read it several times.
Judge Jones concluded in the 39-page decision, "That same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional. Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. Were that not so, ours would still be a racially segregated nation according to the now rightfully discarded doctrine of 'separate but equal.'"
Pennsylvania's Attorney General Kathleen Kane has also stated that she will not defend the gay marriage ban due to "the unconstitutionality of this law."
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, sharply criticized Corbett.
"Marriage is a unique public good that deserves a vigorous defense; however Governor Corbett has refused to step up to the task, and chosen instead to defend himself and his political aspirations," Brown said in a statement. "Governor Corbett is abandoning marriage with this choice. He is also turning his back on the people of Pennsylvania and selling out his principles precisely when it is most necessary that he stand by them!"
Federal judges in many states have struck down state amendments and laws banning same-sex marriage as unconstitutional since the U.S. Supreme Court last June squashed a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. They have revoked bans also in Michigan, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia, and ordered Kentucky and Tennessee to recognize out-of-state gay marriages. However, in many cases, stays have been issued pending appeals.
Same-sex marriage is currently recognized in 19 states California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington and the District of Columbia.
Apparently, none. He's double-digits behind the democrat Tom Wolf and has been for months. Corbett's one and done.
RE: I know what youre saying, Ill probably hold my nose and vote for Corbett in the fall. But damn.
Think about it this way. You are on a train that is approaching a clift.
There are three possibilities in choosing the driver:
1) One who will stop the train and reverse it.
2) One who will slow it down
3) One who will stay its course and its current speed
4) One who will accelerate the speed.
Unfortunately for PA, we don’t have a driver who meets criteria #1.
Corbett meets criteria #2 somehow.
Wolf on the other hand is #4.
There are some conservatives who simply say, let’s just let #4 be the driver so that we can all die together faster and be done with it.
Tom Corbett can never again pretend to be against the leftist agenda and say he opposes homosexual marriages, because he obviously does not oppose them.
These courts have no constitutional power to impose laws on states, these Governors who refuse to fight it are complicit with the leftist agenda
And the most ironic thing is that his campaign commercials made him look like a Mitt Romney-clone businessman.
Can you say '1%er'?
Our Christian Pastors are increasingly not permitted to adhere to the biblical definition of marriage, under threat of being fully taxed as a profit organization or under threat of the Libertine Mafioso that will work at suing you into bankruptcy. This degree of in-your-face confrontation is encouraged by the Dems who are used as useful idiots supporting an ever-expanding agenda . Under this president, the boundaries of our Christian faith mean absolutely nothing in the legal sense.
Short but sweet...speaking of CONSTITUTIONAL
You nailed it, thanks.
It makes no more sense to vote . . . for politicians or for policies. Every so often, the politicians pass some policy that seems sensible, but the courts just throw it out anyway. Now I’m waiting for the country to collapse in the hope that something better will replace it.
I know what you mean, and agree. But court cases are not repealed; they are overturned.
Celebrating sodomy. Pathetic.
Another GOP-er that cows and surrenders before the depraved leftist agenda?
Color me unsurprised. More evidence that there is just no point in voting anymore.
PA’S AG Kane (D) is the one who refused to prosecute a group of corrupt Philadelphia pols because they’re a) Democrats and b) minorities.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett “personally struggled immensely” with his decision “not to challenge a federal judge’s ruling overturning his state’s same-sex marriage ban...”.
___
Is his “struggle” indicative of a conscience? He should just ignore the federal judges/courts since the feds have no constitutional basis for being involved in the matter. Then his conscience would be clear because he did the right thing.
Does Corbett even have standing to appeal?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.