Ten GOP Senators File DOMA Brief

On Friday ten GOP members of the U.S. Senate filed a Supreme Court brief against the overturn of DOMA.  Among the many citations included are two from the landmark case Lawrence Vs Texas, which struck down sodomy laws nationwide in 2003. An excerpt:

Notwithstanding the Attorney General’s belated discovery of DOMA’s allegedly unconstitutional motivation, this argument is flawed because legislative motivation is not a basis for setting aside a federal statute supported by legitimate and rational government interests. This Court’s precedents do not sup-port evaluating the constitutionality of a federal statute based on subjective characterizations of the motives of individual legislators. In any event,support for traditional marriage cannot be equated to“animus,” as Justice O’Connor observed in her concurrence in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 585(2003). It would be particularly inappropriate to invalidate DOMA based on the alleged motivations of individual supporters, given that the statute was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by President Clinton.

Much of the rest of the brief takes the position that there is no "animus" behind the desire to deny civil rights to gay Americans. It's just the logical thing to do.

VIRGINIA: Anti-Gay Mormon Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) Busted For DUI

Anti-gay Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) was arrested in Virginia early this morning and charged with driving while intoxicated.

"Sen. Crapo was identified as the driver and arrested after failing several field sobriety tests," Donaldson said in a statement. "He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Alexandria Adult Detention Center where he was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond." Crapo released a statement through his office Sunday, saying: "I am deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this circumstance. I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in me. "I accept total responsibility and will deal with whatever penalty comes my way in this matter. I will also undertake measures to ensure that this circumstance is never repeated."

Crapo, a Latter Day Saints member for whom alcohol is forbidden, had a .11 blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest.

RELATED: Crapo has a perfect track record of voting against LGBT rights. In June he cosigned the GOP amicus brief on behalf of the defense of DOMA. He twice voted for a federal constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and he voted against both the Hate Crimes Act and the repeal of DADT.  Crapo has a 100% rating from the Christian Coalition and a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign.

UPDATE: JMG reader Brad points out this line from Fox News: "Crapo has told the Associated Press in past interviews that he abstains from drinking alcohol."