(I was going to post on the ruling earlier today, but unfortunately my home network crashed and I had to spend half a day repairing it.)
If you haven't heard, this is the news:
In a highly anticipated ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court today ended months of speculation by political observers in issuing its decision in a landmark case, Andersen v. King County. The court upheld the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), ruling against marriage equality. The decision was 5-4.
Basically, another decision like the one we just had in New York. Obviously a disappointment and obviously a setback.
There's a lot in this decision to look at, though. It was close. Had one justice voted the other way it would have been totally different.
Reactions below the fold.
Some reactions thus far:
Governor Christine Gregoire's reaction? "First and foremost, I am asking for all Washingtonians to respect their fellow citizens. The Supreme Court has ruled and we must accept their decision whether we agree with it or not." She's scheduled a press conference for later today.
King County Executive Ron Sims reacted unhappily. "This is an unwise decision. To my mind, it is reminiscent of Plessy v. Ferguson. Separate but equal was once the law of the land too, but eventually Plessy was overturned. If the legislature does not make changes first, I firmly believe that a future court will take up this issue again. And on that day, a wiser and more enlightened generation will overturn this ruling."
My friend and fellow NPI member mountolympus is updating our Official Blog (link above) throughout the day as we receive more press releases with reaction from elected officials and progressive organizations.
If you want to read the opinions for yourself, they're here. Feel free to use this as a discussion thread to talk about the ruling. I saw one diary about this topic earlier but it seems to have disappeared from the front page.