Hank Kalet

With Supreme Court proceedings closed to cameras, we are left to divine the direction the court might take from reports from the handful of reporters covering today’s arguments. Here is one particularly illuminating — if likely irrelevant — snippet from the proceedings, brought to us by Talking Points Memo:

Scalia jumped in to make his point when liberal justices were grilling Charles Cooper, the lawyer arguing in favor of Prop 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, about what harm it would cause opposite-sex couples.

“If you redefine marriage to include same-sex couples,” he said, “you must permit adoption by same-sex couples, and there’s considerable disagreement among sociologists as to what the consequences of raising a child in a single-sex family, whether that is harmful to the child or not. Some states do not permit adoption by same-sex couples for that reason.”

“I don’t think we know the answer to that,” he said. “Do you know the answer to that, whether it harms or helps the child? … That’s a possible deleterious effect, isn’t it?”

Forget for a minute that the research is pretty conclusive — the American Psychological Association issued a statement eight years ago that said that “research has shown that the adjustment, development, and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation and that the children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish.” 

And forget, as well, that Scalia is really offering nothing more than a kinder, friendlier version of the “slippery slope” argument usually offered by opponents of same-sex marriage (at least he didn’t say that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to bigamy, polygamy and bestiality).

And forget that Scalia may be the least intellectual intellectual in American life, a man so beset by his own prejudices that he is unwilling to examine any of the assumptions that underlie his arguments.

What is important here is that what Scalia says may not matter. We know how he is going to vote. We know what his reasoning is going to be and we know that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are going to join him.

What is less clear is where Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy will side. Kennedy is considered the swing vote, but there has been some speculation that Roberts is concerned about the court’s legacy and, if that is the case, it makes him a wild card.

Send me an e-mail.

NPR, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our misguided adventure in Iraq, offers an interview with the Iraqi poet Dunya Mikhail, whose book The War Works Hard I read several years ago. An excellent read and an excellent interview.

Send me an e-mail.

My Progressive Populist column is up — a call for more aggressive opposition to the false solutions offered for climate change.

Lawyers for Lakewood and Tent City have agreed to a plan to close the camp and find housing for its residents. Here’s my piece for Patch on today’s hearing.

About two dozen protesters marched outside the Ocean County Courthouse on Hooper Avenue, many holding signs that said “Speak for the Homeless” and “Save Tent City.”

They were outside to make their voices heard before a hearing on the fate of the Tent City encampment before Superior Court Judge Joseph Foster. the encampment has triggered passionate responses on both sides of the issue and has been the subject of court review for more than a year.

Outside, some were residents of the Tent City homeless camp, others wee from advocacy groups like HELP and Clergy for Workforce Housing.

“For me, it’s a personal issue,” said Marilyn Miller of Toms River. “As a child, I was almost homeless many times but for the grace of god.”

Rosemary Bagwell, of Middletown, says there are not enough resources being focused on the issue of homelessness.

“In a rich country like America, there is no reason for this,” she said. She questioned why the governor has not put aside more money to aid the homeless.

He’s doling out a lot of money,” she said about Gov. Chris Christie’s plan for post-Sandy recovery funds. “There’s no reason why something can’t be done for the homeless.”

Inside, a crowd packs the hallway outside the courtroom. Advocates for Tent City mingle elbow to elbow with members of the Orthodox Jewish community, many of whom want the camp shut down

“The message is not ‘get lost,'” said Abe Rose. It’s ‘get help.’ There are lots of resources. We’re willing to work with them but they’re not willing to be put by the county shelters.

More to come here and at Patch.com.