Today, the ACLU filed a new suit asking a federal judge in Greensboro to take immediate action and issue a restraining order against the state marriage amendment and our state marriage laws. The pretext apparently is a same sex couple with a child who has a pre-existing condition. The couple apparently is asserting they cannot obtain health insurance for the child unless they are married.
Interestingly, handling the previous ACLU suit against North Carolina's marriage amendment is U.S. District Court Judge William L. Osteen, Jr., the chief judge in the Middle District of North Carolina. The federal courthouse is located in downtown Greensboro.
What do we know about Judge Osteen?
He is a Republican judge. Osteen was nominated by President George W. Bush, and assumed his position during 2007. He was born in Greensboro; and is approximately 54 years old. I am presuming that he had to pass muster with Elizabeth Dole and/or Richard Burr before being confirmed in the Senate.
But it turns out there is another interesting twist. Judge Osteen assumed the judicial position that was being vacated by his father, William L. Osteen, Sr. The elder Judge Osteen was also a Republican judge; and had been nominated by President George H.W. Bush. He died nearly five years ago.
By reputation, the elder Judge Osteen was a fine man. My understanding is that he was a strong man of faith.
Here is the problem. There is some open speculation that the younger Osteen is in the process of punting on the marriage amendment case:
U.S. District Judge William Osteen of Greensboro, who will hear the challenge by the ACLU and several same-sex couples to Amendment One, appears to be waiting on the Fourth Circuit’s decision before pushing the case ahead.
“Judge Osteen sees the writing on the wall and knows there’s no great incentive for him to issue a decision in his case,” says Greg Wallace, who teaches law at Campbell University and favors traditional marriage.
“If the Fourth Circuit holds the Virginia law unconstitutional, that would effectively render the North Carolina law unconstitutional, too. … It would be very hard for Judge Osteen to say, ‘This case is different.’ ”
Tami Fitzgerald of the North Carolina Values Coalition said in a statement today, "...the judge in the North Carolina Marriage Amendment case seems content to let the issue play out in existing appeals already before appellate courts."
We therefore have a southern Republican judge who is ostensibly not seizing the opportunity to contribute to the developing case law in the federal courts.
Let's get back to the late, elder Judge Osteen. My recollection is that he was part of a local Baptist church that was once affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention; but which now is part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. It is a moderate-to-liberal church.
I suspect that the elder Judge Osteen is turning in his grave at the moment, however.
I do not know the younger Osteen's church or denominational affiliation-- if he has any. But the point is that he was raised in a Christian home. One would hope that, given the fact that he is a southern Republican judge having been raised in a Christian home, he would do his best to deliver an opinion that is tight and well-constructed in support of the marriage amendment.
He has ample legal and constitutional basis to do so. If he were to deliver such an opinion, it would be on the record; and appellate and Supreme Court judges could later weigh its merits against the loosey-goosey nonsense produced by the judicial activists. Otherwise, there would be virtually no substantive record of decisions supporting state-based marriage amendments.
The supporters of same sex marriage are having to manufacture a constitutional right out of thin air, using specious reasoning and faulty logic. It should not be difficult to construct a legal opinion that disposes of their arguments. But unfortunately, the activist judiciary is going out of its way to support them in an almost monolithic fashion.
We need to score some singles and doubles; and we have a Republican judge right here in Greensboro who could be of assistance.
Is he his father's son; or is he just another Greensboro liberal?
Sometimes, people with integrity need to step out in faith, and do the right thing, even if it might be costly. Sometimes they must do so even if it risks their own career advancement or their own standing.
I hope Judge Osteen will consider this matter, and do the right thing. And I hope North Carolina Republicans understand that they have some responsibility in this matter also.
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