The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has criticized Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for
presiding over the marriage of a gay couple.
The New York Times reported that
Ginsburg placed special emphasis on the word “constitution” in
pronouncing the men married by the power vested in her by the
Constitution of the United States.
(Related: While
presiding 5th
same-sex wedding, Ruth Bader Ginsburg emphasizes word
“constitution.”)
The high court is expected to rule next
month in a case challenging gay marriage bans in Ohio, Kentucky,
Michigan and Tennessee.
In a blog post titled Justice
Ginsburg's Bias, NOM described Ginsburg's participation in the
wedding as “another display of judicial arrogance and bias.”
“It is this kind of behavior that
seriously calls into question the impartiality of a judge that
requires her to remove herself from voting on the marriage case,”
NOM wrote.
“While in the midst of a court
decision that could change the fabric of America, it will be hard to
trust a decision issued by a Justice who cannot refrain from publicly
exemplifying their impartiality when it comes to the definition of
marriage.”
NOM, however, isn't criticizing
conservative justices who have publicly made their views known.
Justice Antonin Scalia has made his opposition clear. In 2013,
Scalia told a group of lawyers that there is no right to “homosexual
conduct” in the United States Constitution. Also, if marrying
couples is the yardstick by which we measure impartiality, then we
should note that Justice Clarence Thomas officiated at the wedding of
conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and Marta Maranda Fitzgerald –
a heterosexual couple. The marriage lasted a decade. In 2010,
Limbaugh married his fourth wife, Kathryn Rogers.