Community Corner

Mayor Hanauer on Supreme Court Rulings: One Thumb Up, One Down

Ossining Mayor Bill Hanauer gives the two historic Supreme Court rulings mixed reviews. 

A big "wow," was his one-word reaction to Wednesday's 5-4 ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act - which puts California back in the category of the 13 states that now allow same-sex marriage.

"A real offense," he said about some parts of the Voters Rights Act getting struck down on Tuesday.

Hanauer, married to his partner after marriage law changed in New York, was thrilled, if cautiously, on the death-of-DOMA news. "It's a time in coming for those of us having been around for many years, active in the movement to further civil rights for everybody -- for those with disabilities, for minorities, for women, for gays -- to have finally achieved something that is a landmark," he said.

He paused, "however."

"There's nothing in the [DOMA] decision that says that in the future states can't pass such a thing that won't allow same-sex marriage," Hanauer said. "I'd caution people that we can't let the progressive coalition fall apart. We must continue to be vigilant and work very hard."

For the young, Hanauer said this ruling might seem like years and years in the coming, "we've waited so long." But when you "consider the scope of history," Hanauer points to that stretch of years between the founding of the United States and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and to where we are now. 

The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act decision, also 5-4, he described as a "real setback" to the rights of minorities, the disabled, older people, first-time voters. 

The part of the act that was struck down was the method of choosing which states and counties are under greater voting rights scrutiny. Though these are primarily states in the south, there are three counties in New York: namely the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. "So people should be aware that [discrimination] does happen right in our background, whether by omission or commission," he said.

Hanauer felt with federal government's divisive deadlocks, there's "zero percent chance of doing what the Court promised" -- that there would be a new method devised for those states and counties in question. "It's a disgrace to the United States to have a Congress like this that can't decide on anything."

So in the end, he said, issues that might seem distant to us are more relevant than we think. "It's interesting to see just how far-reaching the effects of these decisions really are."

What do you think about the DOMA ruling and the Voting Rights Act legislation? Weigh in below.


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