In Elane Photography v. Willock, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a wedding photographer violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act by not agreeing to photograph a lesbian couple’s same-sex commitment ceremony (gay marriage was not legal in New Mexico at the time, nor were civil unions, so, ironically, the state of New Mexico insists that private citizens treat gay unions as marriages even when it itself hypocritically refuses to do so). It rejected free-speech, freedom-of-religion, and other civil-liberties arguments against forcing the photographer to do this (the First Amendment forbids compelled speech, as the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly noted, and photography is a form of protected speech, as federal courts have ruled). The ruling seems plainly wrong, for the reasons I previously discussed at this link, explaining why an earlier ruling against the photographers by lower courts in New Mexico conflicted with both Constitutional free-speech and freedom-of-religion guarantees, and other provisions in New Mexico law.....To Read More....
My Take - When I posted this story earlier in the week I asked; how do people this stupid get these jobs? While reading this article I kept asking myself the same question. Then I wondered if these numbskulls are elected? As it turns out they are!
When I read insane decisions such as this I remember a great article by the great Mike Royko that must have been thirty or forty years ago....so my memory is a bit sketchy, and I have even forgotten what state all this took place in, although I think it was North Dakota, but the state only allowed the death penalty for murders that were particularly heinous. The case before that court involved a murder by a man who committed the murder by choking the woman to death by stuffing nylon hose down her throat. Howevr the death penalty imposed by the lower courts was overturned because that state's Supreme Court didn't find his crime heinous enough to justify the death penalty.
Royko went ballistic on these numbskulls setting off a national firestorm. The story is sketching in my mind after all these years, but if I remember it correctly the next election fixed that problem. Maybe New Mexico will have the same solution.
My Take - When I posted this story earlier in the week I asked; how do people this stupid get these jobs? While reading this article I kept asking myself the same question. Then I wondered if these numbskulls are elected? As it turns out they are!
When I read insane decisions such as this I remember a great article by the great Mike Royko that must have been thirty or forty years ago....so my memory is a bit sketchy, and I have even forgotten what state all this took place in, although I think it was North Dakota, but the state only allowed the death penalty for murders that were particularly heinous. The case before that court involved a murder by a man who committed the murder by choking the woman to death by stuffing nylon hose down her throat. Howevr the death penalty imposed by the lower courts was overturned because that state's Supreme Court didn't find his crime heinous enough to justify the death penalty.
Royko went ballistic on these numbskulls setting off a national firestorm. The story is sketching in my mind after all these years, but if I remember it correctly the next election fixed that problem. Maybe New Mexico will have the same solution.
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