Supreme Court thumbs down same-sex marriage petition (Philstar.com) - September 3, 2019 - 2:48pm MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court voted unanimously to dismiss the petition to allow same-sex marriage in the Philippines. In a statement released Tuesday, the high court said the petition was dismissed due to lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III's "lack of standing, violating the principle of hierarchy of courts, and failing to raise an actual, justiciable controversy." This is despite acknowledging that the 1987 Constitution does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Falcis, an openly gay lawyer, filed the petition in October 2015, which sought to strike down the prohibitions against same-sex marriage under the Family Code. While the high court recognized the struggles of the LGBT community, the SC decided that Congress should address matters on … [Read more...] about Supreme Court thumbs down same-sex marriage petition
Controversial supreme court cases
Same-sex marriage petitioners cited in contempt by Supreme Court
Same-sex marriage petitioners cited in contempt by Supreme Court (Philstar.com) - September 3, 2019 - 3:30pm MANILA, Philippines — Upon dismissing the petition to allow same-sex marriage in the Philippines, the Supreme Court also cited four lawyers in contempt for filing it. In a decision issued Tuesday, the SC en banc said lawyers Jesus Nicardo Falcis III, Darwin Angeles, Keisha Trina Guangko and Christopher Ryan Maranan were liable for indirect contempt. In May 2015, openly gay lawyer Falcis and his co-counsels filed a petition seeking the declaration of Articles 1 and 2 of the Family Code as unconstitutional. The petitioners claimed that these provisions deprive same-sex couples the right to marry. In citing the same-sex marriage petitioners in contempt, the SC explained that "[t]o forget [the bare rudiments of court procedure and decorum] – or worse, to purport to know them, but really, only to exploit them by … [Read more...] about Same-sex marriage petitioners cited in contempt by Supreme Court
Supreme Court thumbs down same-sex marriage
Supreme Court thumbs down same-sex marriage (Philstar.com) - September 3, 2019 - 2:48pm MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court voted unanimously to dismiss the petition to allow same-sex marriage in the Philippines. In a statement released Tuesday, the high court said the petition was dismissed due to lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III's "lack of standing, violating the principle of hierarchy of courts, and failing to raise an actual, justiciable controversy." This is despite acknowledging that the 1987 Constitution does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Falcis, an openly gay lawyer, filed the petition in October 2015, which sought to strike down the prohibitions against same-sex marriage under the Family Code. While the high court recognized the struggles of the LGBT community, the SC decided that Congress should address matters on same-sex … [Read more...] about Supreme Court thumbs down same-sex marriage
Will the US Supreme Court reconsider abortion rights?
WASHINGTON: American evangelicals have high hopes that the US Supreme Court, with its newfound conservative majority, will be tempted to chip away at its historic decision to legalize abortion.Forty-six years after its landmark Roe v Wade decision, the high court is at the heart of a heated offensive led by states with conservative majorities who oppose the voluntary termination of pregnancy.This week alone, Alabama passed a law banning women from having an abortion even in cases of incest or rape and the Missouri legislature made illegal abortions from eight weeks of pregnancy. Both states have vowed to prosecute doctors who perform the procedure.Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa and North Dakota have enacted laws banning abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, around six weeks of gestation, before most women know they are pregnant.All of these laws flagrantly go against Roe v Wade, which guarantees women's rights to abortion as long as the fetus is not viable … [Read more...] about Will the US Supreme Court reconsider abortion rights?
Death penalty tensions flare again on divided US Supreme Court
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Supreme Court's internal divisions over the death penalty were on full display again on Monday in fresh wrangling over how the justices handled recent attempts by two convicted murderers in Alabama and Texas to put off their executions.In both cases, there are signs that tensions over the death penalty - especially skepticism by the court's conservative majority over last-minute bids by death row inmates to block executions - are coming to a boil after simmering for years.In the Alabama case, Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the nine-member court's five conservatives, wrote a 14-page opinion defending its middle-of-the-night April 12 decision to pave the way for the execution of Christopher Price, 46. The court's order was released too late for Price's scheduled execution to be carried out, and he remains on death row.Minutes later, the court issued a new opinion by conservative Justice Samuel Alito criticizing its March 28 decision to issue a stay of execution for … [Read more...] about Death penalty tensions flare again on divided US Supreme Court