The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Friday, November 7, 2014 - 3
MARRIAGE
From Page 1
cuit: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio,
and Tennessee," Sutton wrote.
Later in the decision, he wrote
that same-sex marriage propo-
nents have not clearly justified
the case to make the definition of
marriage - and the subsequent
rights and recognition attached
to that definition - a constitu-
tional issue.
Michigan's case, DeBoer v.
Snyder, was initially brought by
Hazel ParkresidentsAprilDeBo-
er and Jayne Rowse because they
were unable to jointly adopt their
children. Several months after
the initial case was brought, a
judge offered them the option of
broadening it to an overall chal-
lenge of Michigan's same-sex
marriage ban.
In an interview Thursday
evening, Jay Kaplan, project
staff attorney for the ACLU of
Michigan's LGBT Rights Proj-
ect, said the decision didn't take
into account the function of the
courts as a check on the power of
the legislative branch.
The ACLU stated earlier in the
afternoon that they would appeal
the decision to the Supreme
Court.
"We relyonthecourtsbecause
we know we can't rely on the
will of the majority always to do
the right or the fair thing, and
that's one of the functions of our
courts," Kaplan said. "Judge Sut-
ton, in his opinion, seems to have
totally lost sight of that."
In a statement Thursday
afternoon, Michigan Attorney
General Bill Schuette (R), who
has argued in favor of the ban
and brought the appeal to the
Sixth Circuit against the dis-
trict court's ruling, applauded
the decision and said he looked
forward to a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling on the issue.
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit has ruled, and
Michigan's constitution remains
in full effect," Schuette said.
"As I have stated repeatedly, the
U.S. Supreme Court will have
the final word on this issue. The
sooner they rule, the better,, for
Michigan and the country."
Last year, the Supreme Court
chose to rule in favor of federal
recognition for same-sex cou-
ples in a variety of areas, strik-
ing down aspects of the Defense
of Marriage Act. Earlier this
year, the Court declined to hear
appeals to cases striking down
same-sex marriage bans, but was
expected to step in should a cir-
cuit courtuphold the ban.
In Ann Arbor, members of the
LGBTQ community and allies
gathered Thursday night to dis-
cuss the decision at the Jim Toy
Community Center, a Washt-
enaw County organization that
is a self-described local resource
for LGBTQ individuals and their
allies. Sandi Smith, president of
the center, said in an interview
after the event Thursday evening
that the local community was
still exploring its options.
"Right now the people are
gathering; they are a little bit
in emotional shock," she said.
"I think there's some consola-
tion happening, and we've got
some people that are trying to go
through the opinions that were
published ... and trying to make
sense of it."
Smith added that along with
an appeal, the group was also
looking into launching a cam-
paign to place a proposal related
to the legalization of same-sex
marriage on the 2016 ballot.
Another case in the state,
stemming from the same-sex
marriage ban concerning the
legality of the marriages of the
almost 300 couples who married
in the 24-hour period between
the district court's decision to
strike down the ban and the
issuing of an emergency stay
on the decision, as requested by
Schuette, is still pending in the
courts. A preliminary hearing
for the case was held in August.
In a statement Thursday after-
noon, Republican Gov. Rick Sny-
der reaffirmed his position on
the legality of the marriages by
following the language in the
state constitution. He wrote that
he "took an oath to support and
defend our state constitution,
without exceptions."
Public Policy junior Nick
Rinehart, chair of Central Stu-
dent Government's LGBT*Q
Commission, said the lack of pro-
gression of the marriage equal-
ity movement in Michigan was
disappointing, especially for
University students considering
their options in the state.
"It certainly doesn't help the
state of Michigan's case in the
circumstance when LGBT stu-
dents or allies see that their state
is not willing to stand up for all
of its citizens," he said. "It's defi-
nitely discouraging for a lot of
people. I know that it's not mak-
ing me want to stay in Michigan
... it's not exactly helping the
state's case here."
Daily Staff Reporter Amabel
Karoub contributed to this report.
Tennessee vote waves the
protection for abortions
Amendment to
state constitution
oversteps Roe v.
Wade ruling
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)
- While the rest of the South
slowly whittled away at abor-
tion access, Tennessee's clinics
operated under less stringent
restrictions.
That is about to change.
Voters on Tuesday approved
altering the state constitution
to make clear that it does not
protect the right to an abor-
tion - despite the U.S. Supreme
Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling
establishing a nationwide right
to abortion - and legislators
are already talking about man-
datory counselling and waiting
periods to bring Tennessee in
line with the eight surround-
ing states. The legislature meets
again in January.
The amendment, approved by
53 percent of voters, was a slow
motion response to a Tennessee
Supreme Court ruling in 2000
that said abortion was protected
by the state constitution. The
amendment was brought before
the legislature four months
after that decision, but it took
nearly 14 years to become law
because of political opposition
and the state's lengthy referen-
dum process.
"Clearly, I think the legisla-
ture wants to put commonsense
legislation in place to make sure
that abortion is a safe procedure
in Tennessee and to restore the
state to being in-line with the
states around us," said House
Speaker Beth Farwell, a Nash-
ville Republican.
Abortion rights supporters
are worried that lawmakers
will go too far. After the amend-
ment passed, American Civil
Liberties Union of Tennessee
Executive Director Hedy Wein-
berg issued a statement warn-
ing politicians that "extreme,
medically-irrelevant laws will
be strongly opposed by voters."
The hard-fought campaign
over Amendment 1 brought in
more than $5.5 million, much
of that raised by abortion rights
advocates from Planned Par-
enthood affiliates across the
country who fought it. The two
sides spent nearly $4.5 million
in October alone, much of that
going toward television adver-
tisements.
Opponents portrayed Ten-
nessee as an "abortion destina-
tion," playing up that almost
23 percent of the women get-
ting abortions in Tennessee are
from out of state, according to
the Tennessee Department of
Health.
That statistic is a little mis-
leading. Before the rules were
relaxed by the state Supreme
Court decision in 2000, 19 per-
cent of abortions here were per-
formed on women from other
states.
Border states include Mis-
sissippi, where the only abor-
tion clinic faces closure over a
2012 state law that is currently
tied up in the courts, and Mis-
souri, one of only three states
that require women to wait 72
hours between when they seek
an abortion and when they can
obtain one.
Elizabeth Nash is a policy
analyst with the Guttmacher
Institute, a research organiza-
tion that supports legal access
to abortion. She said if Tennes-
see adopts laws like those in
the surrounding states, abor-
tion will become more difficult
and expensive for women in the
state. She doubted that lawmak-
ers could cut off access entirely.
"If the goal here is to shut
abortion clinics, I imagine they
will be fairly successful," she
said. "To go from eight clinics to
zero probably won't happen."
Abortion rights advocates
had better success Tuesday in
Colorado and North Dakota,
where voters decisively rejected
measures that-opponents feared
could lead to bans on abortion.
The Colorado proposal would
have added "unborn human
beings" to the state's criminal
code; the North Dakota measure
would have declared in the state
constitution that "the inalien-
able right to life of every human
being at every stage of develop-
ment must be recognized and
protected."
Nationally, advocacy groups
on opposite sides of the abortion
debate drew different lessons
from the election results.
Abortion rights support-
ers, though dismayed by the
defeats of some of their Demo-
cratic allies in Congress, were
heartened that some Republican
candidates triumphed after soft-
ening previous stances on abor-
tion and reproductive health.
Anti-abortion groups, mean-
while, were pleased by the infu-
sion of more conservatives in
both chambers of Congress, and
said they now expect the Senate
- under GOP control as of Janu-
ary - to take up a House-passed
bill that would ban most abor-
tions after 20 weeks.
FOOD
From Page 1
from," she said. "We want stu-
dents to know that."
The process ofrecoveringfood
is fairly simple but is one that has
a substantial impact, said Engi-
neering senior Joey Letner.
"The dining staff takes the
leftover food, puts in aluminum
pans that we provide, puts it in
freezers, and then our chapter
picks up the food and brings it to
the Ann Arbor Food Gatherers.
From there, it's distributed to
various places, such as the Delo-
nis Center and other homeless
centers or churches that have
food pantries.".
LSA senior Colleen Rathz, the
event coordinator, stressed the
importance of being conscious of
what to do with your food.
"Repurpose your leftovers,
put it in the fridge, or give it to
a friend," she said. "There are so
many better options than throw-
ing food in the garbage."
KERRY-
From Page 1
ferences, then so can Americans
in the Midwest."
After his lecture, audience
members asked questions about
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
and other topics. Questions
ranged from Iranian nuclear
negotiations to the influence of
the media on the talks.
LSA junior Becca Levin, one
of the program's organizers, said
the event was sponsored by the
Israeli Campus Coalition and
Hillel with the purpose of bring-
ing another perspective on the
conflict to campus.
COMPETITION
From Page 1
tions.
The teams are provided with
Public Policy alumni as men-
tors, and specifically alumni who
are working in city government
capacities or have other public
sector experience, to incorporate
real-world knowledge and ideas
into the case.
"Mentors will help to guide
students and push them to
think about the different risks
involved with the proposal, how
those risks could be mitigated,
to think about the gaps in their
thinking that would ultimately
be addressed by the city council
when they are presenting their
proposals just so they are ready
and have thought about all the
externalities," Patten said.
The teams are encouraged
to visit East Lansing to better
understand the context and situ-
ation of the problem.
"We wanted to educate stu-
dents onaninsider's pointofview
and talking about these nego-
tiations," Levin said. "I think it's
super important because a lot
of times we get our news from
social media or just one place and
it's really important to take a step
back and really think about the
news and that way we can talk
to each other about ways to move
forward."
Makovsky said it's also impor-
tant for University students to be
aware of issues of conflict in the
Middle East because they impact
other foreign policy objectives as
well.
"If there's instability in the
Middle East, I think what we've
learned is that it affects every-
one," he said. "It leads to wars,
it leads to conflict. There's no
doubt jihadists exploit this
conflict to gain recruits and
we need peace. I think that will
take a card out of their hands. I
don't think it would end terror-
ism but I think it could lower
the flame."
He also stressed the impor-
tance of not giving up on finding
a two-state solution.
"We shouldn't see every
obstacle as a pretext not to do
anything," he said. "If we can't
hit a home run, we should hit
a double, a single, even a triple,
whatever we can do, even if we
can't solve it all."
HIEFTJE
From Page 1
"I'mgoingt continuetolivehere.
and be ataxpayer," Hieftje said.
Peterson, whose first term on
Council ends this year, ran for
mayor and therefore relinquished
her eligibility to run as an incum-
bent for her Council seat. During
her time on Council, Petersen
emphasized and used her busi-
ness background to focus on eco-
nomic issues in the city.
During her campaign for
mayor, she ran against fellow
councilmembers Sabra Briere
(D-Ward 1), Steve Kunselman
(D-Ward 3) and Taylor, receiving
15.90 percent of the vote in the
Democratic primary.
As her time on Council ends,
Petersen said she hopes to con-
tinue serving Ann Arbor through
the Disabilities Commission. At
Thursday's meeting, the Council
voted unanimously to tioiinate
Petersen as Chairof the-Disabili-
ties Commission.
Petersen said she was grate-
ful for Hieftje's welcome to the
Council, as he gave her the oppor-
tunity to take a leadership role on
committees.
"I thank everyone here
because people have been open-
minded," Petersen said. "People
have been willing to listen."
Known as a champion for the
neighborhoods of Ann Arbor,
Teall has served on the Coun-
cil for 12 years for the fourth
ward. In addition to her time on
Council, Teall also served on the
Environmental Commission, the
Administrative Committee, the
board of directors for the annual
FestiFools festival and the Labor
Committee, among others.
As Teall's tenure comes to a
close, she said she has been nos-
talgic and has looked at past
e-mails to reflect on what being a
councilmember meant to her and
to sumup her Council experience.
"It's meant a ton," she said.
"You know, I've been here 12
years and I'm floored by how
much we've accomplished in
the 14 years since we've had our
mayor. We don't talk about the
same problems now. I am very
lucky to have served with so
many fabulous staff members."
Teall also said she has no
intentions at this time of running
for public office again.
"Working with organizations,
nonprofits and such," she said,
"(that) would be something I'd
like to do."
"We are going up to visit the
city to gain a personal perspec-
tive. One of my team members
is from there. It should be inter-
esting to see what the city is like,
what lessons we can pile from
having not lived in a University
town," said Rasheed Malik, a
Public Policy graduate student.
The teams are expected to use
problem-solving skills to formu-
late and test hypotheses, develop
work plans and issue different
kinds of analysis. The teams are
provided with real data that they
are expected to analyze and use
for solutions and proposals.
A judging rubric is available
for the first round of the compe-
tition. Based on a numeric scale
of 65 points, the first-round judg-
ing focuses on the identification,
interpretation and analysis of the
case, and the ability of the team
to explain and defend its case
and strategy. Most importantly,
the proposal must be legal, fiscal-
ly sound and politically feasible.
The rubric also includes the need
for the demonstration of origi-
nality and creativity.
The competition attracted
students from different back-
grounds for several reasons.
"I am an international student.
I am really interested in issues of
urban policy. And this would be
my only chance to work within
the local government framework
and I was very interested to see
how they operate," said Sneha
Rao, a Public Policy graduate
student.
The kickoff event will be fol-
lowed by a first round of selec-
tion, designed to engage with
clients for scheduled calls, to ask
questions and request additional
information. The second round
of selection will focus on the
advancing team's improvement
of their submitted proposals and
the development of their oral
presentations.
The 2014 Case Competition
showcase and awards event will
take place at 1210 Weill Hall on
Nov.21 from 12:30 p.m.to2p.m.
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