A national organization that supports traditional marriage is asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to recuse herself from the upcoming gay marriage case since she has spoken and acted in favor of gay marriage.
The catalyst was an interview with Bloomberg Business released Thursday in which Justice Ginsburg said “it would not take a large adjustment” for the American people to accept a ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
The justice, 81, also opined that as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have revealed their sexual orientation, “the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.”
These comments “brought disrepute on the Supreme Court and eliminated any pretext that she will approach the marriage issue with an open mind when it comes before her,” Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), said Friday.
“Because of this prejudice, federal law requires her to remove herself from hearing the cases,” Mr. Brown said. “If she does not step aside, we will ask Congress to investigate the matter and pursue legislative remedies.”
Federal law requires federal judges to disqualify themselves “in any proceeding” in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned, NOM said, adding that Justice Ginsburg has already signaled her opinion by presiding over same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Separately, Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume tweeted that Justice Ginsburg’s remarks were an “Amazing impropriety,” according to Twitchy.com.
The Human Rights Campaign, however, hailed the remarks as “a bold stand for progress and equality” and is using her words to gather signatures for a petition to provide the “people’s voice” to the Supreme Court on gay marriage.
In the Bloomberg interview, Justice Ginsburg said: “In recent years, people have said, ’This is the way I am.’ And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door neighbor — we’re very fond of them. Or it’s our child’s best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out and said that ’this is who I am,’ the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.”
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Obergefell v. Hodges and related gay marriage cases this year. The first briefs are expected to be filed by Feb. 27.
• Cheryl Wetzstein can be reached at cwetzstein@washingtontimes.com.
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