for those who haven't heard Indiana has made filing for same sex marriage a level 6 Felony... Indiana GOP passes law making it a crime for clergy to marry gays What are your guys thoughts on this?
How does a state make something a felony? I always thought those were federal crimes, as in, the whole country crimes.
Not only is it ridiculous that the legislature feels the need to manage people's personal lives, but this is a blatant violation of religious freedom and the First Amendment. Regardless of whether or not the state chooses to officially recognize same-sex marriages, it has no constitutional authority to prevent churches from performing religious ceremonies. I don't think this would stand in a court challenge.
This is what happens when you put the Republican Party into power in your state. Don't you dare suggest spending one cent of money on helping to create jobs or improve public education or repair our crumbling infrastructure or ensure access to healthcare for people...that's big government socialism. But spending money to prosecute and imprison gay people and their allies, for celebrating "illegal" private weddings just by saying "I do" to each other (while same-sex marriage is already not recognized by the state in Indiana)...that's a-okay, that's acceptable spending in the Republican Party's view, just like all the money we spent killing people in imperialist wars and imprisoning non-violent drug users. The Republican Party is just completely devoid of moral legitimacy at this point.
Saw this on Facebook, it left me with the impression it's no big deal, although I still don't understand it... From the 'Have a Gay Day' page.
Not sure what the point of that picture is. In a civilised Western nation, which the USA at least aspires to be, we should be holding ourselves to a higher standard. An anti-gay law is never acceptable, saying "at least it's not as bad" as some backward tyrannical cesspool is not a valid justification. We don't need to race to the bottom against Russia or any other homophobic country.
Okay, but: 1. What heterosexual couple is going to state they're a homosexual couple 2. What homosexual couple is going to state they're heterosexual? We're at the point where, for the most part, same-sex marriages are on the same level as heterosexual marriages due to the fall of DOMA and the IRS decision. All we really need to do now is fight for each state and country to legalize it. It'll take years, yes. But all the "special rights" the GOP and fundamentalists have been saying we're fighting for are really already won. The only "special right" we're fighting for is marriage, and in legal terms, that's not even a right. And even if they did "lie", what difference does it make? At that point, a marriage is a marriage is a marriage. This does not seem like a logically-based decision, but rather still an emotionally-based decision.
i thought conservatives hated government interference in the church. this law makes no sense. it really sucks that we live in a country where laws that strip people of one of the most basic human rights are allowed to pass.
I am not saying it will be easy but I am sure this will be taken to Supreme Court at some point I would imagine it would get struck down Foxface
What happened was Indiana overhauled it's entire penal code. The Bilerico Project covers it really well in this article. "This law has been in place since 1997 and is intended to penalize anyone who provides false information on a marriage license application as well as penalties for any public official who knowingly certifies false information on any government consent form. It is not tied specifically to same-sex marriage and predates Indiana's same-sex marriage ban by half a decade. ...The only change to the law was to strike out Class D felony and change that to a Level 6 felony - a lesser crime." Slow Down: Indiana's 'New' Marriage Law Isn't Real I would say all our energy and outrage should instead be focused on the Indiana Republican Party's current attempt to write discrimination into the state constitution when the most recent poll shows the majority of Hoosiers oppose such an amendment.
No kidding. The United States was founded on freedom from tyranny, and yet here we are doing tyrannical things. Good lookin' out, Indiana. :dry:
Okay, so let me get this (ha) straight: Is it by default in the digital system that someone should be male and the other someone should be female? Basically, is it set up so that only one person has to check off their sex, so that they are, by default, the "male" or "female" of the relationship, and the other person is tagged with the opposite sex relatively to their partner? I understand why this is in place: so as not to have forced marriages by pedophiles or "gold diggers" who would use marriage to their advantage.
Felonies are a degree of crime. A misdemeanor is a crime punishable by less than one year in jail, a fine, community service, or alternative punishment. A felony is a crime punishable by more than a year in prison. Prison is basically like jail, but it's for people serving out felony sentences, not drunks picked up off the street or people who haven't been tried yet. Both states and the feds have misdemeanor and felony offenses, and each state and the federal government has it's own courts and penal institutions to house offenders.
Thanks a lot, everyone. Yeah I don't know where I got the idea from but I always go by the opposite of the Ben Franklin advice. I'd rather just speak up than remain ignorant. Also I found a good e-how explaining the whole classes 6 thing, What Is a Felony Charge? | eHow
It's not going to matter in the end. Within 5 years, i expect even barbaric indiana to be forced to give out marriage licenses.
I wonder if they're going to do something like this in North Carolina, which is pretty much the poster boy of "crazy Republican trifecta" right now.
This law is stupid simply because it's blatantly unconstitutional. If they actually try to arrest anyone with this law, they'll be taken to the Supreme Court, where the law will be overturned. What's the point of it all? ---------- Post added 8th Sep 2013 at 07:15 PM ---------- Hmm, this article is interesting: Slow Down: Indiana's 'New' Marriage Law Isn't Real | The Bilerico Project