Professor Eastman publishes “Cheating Marriage: A Tragedy in Three Acts”
October 5, 2015
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor John Eastman recently published “
Cheating Marriage: A Tragedy in Three Acts
” in the
Ave Maria Law Review
(Volume 13, Number 2).
From the abstract:
In his dissenting opinion in United States v. Windsor, Justice Scalia accused the Court of “cheating,” because it decided an issue that properly belonged to the voters. But the cheating that went on in the case, and the parallel case involving Proposition 8 in California, was also of the vintage variety. This article tells the largely untold story about the many machinations by elected officials and judges to produce the end result in favor of same-sex marriage, from conflicts of interest, to collusion by nominally “opposing” counsel, and finally to an aggressive refusal by high-ranking government lawyers (including one who would then cast the deciding vote in the case) to defend laws for which there were perfectly reasonable defenses well-rooted in then-existing precedent. Windsor and Hollingsworth were, in significant measure, collusive suits with critical litigation strategies implemented by parties nominally on opposite sides of the case but who were, in truth, seeking the same outcome. This article documents what transpired and raises a red flag of concern about the threat posed to the rule of law by the advance-the-agenda-at-any-cost tactics employed.
Dr. John C. Eastman
is the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service at Chapman University Fowler School of Law, and also served as the school’s Dean from June 2007 to January 2010, when he stepped down to pursue a bid for California Attorney General. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. Prior to joining the Fowler School of Law faculty, he served as a law clerk with Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States and with Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. After his clerkships, Dr. Eastman practiced with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in major civil and constitutional litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. He earned his JD from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated with high honors. Dr. Eastman also has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School, with fields of concentration in Political Philosophy, American Government, Constitutional Law and International Relations. Prior to law school, he served as the Director of Congressional & Public Affairs at the United States Commission on Civil Rights during the Reagan administration and was the 1990 Republican Nominee for Congress in California’s 34th District. Dr. Eastman is a prolific author of scholarly articles, textbooks, book chapters, and opinion pieces, and frequently appears as a commentator on radio and television.
See Professor Eastman’s writings
.