Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but it seems that the level of discourse on controversial issues in recent months has sunk to new lows, with both sides failing to address the facts in the real world, let alone the arguments of the other side. Everyone agrees that we need to reduce the deficit, but one group wants to cut taxes and promises to find billions to save through the old bromide of “fraud, waste and abuse,” while another insists that cutting Social Security benefits in any respect, including adjusting the retirement age or modifying cost-of-living increases, is off the table. By contrast, in four recent decisions involving gay rights, discussed below, three federal judges and a state appeals court in Florida carefully and conscientiously grappled with the facts and the contentions of both sides before coming down against the government in each case.
But it’s not only cases in which I agree with the outcome that this is true, as shown by State of Florida v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , the recent decision from the Northern District of Florida refusing to throw out two claims that the new federal health reform law is unconstitutional. In a 65-page opinion, Senior Judge Roger Vinson carefully considered a wide array of procedural and substantive arguments made by the government to support dismissal of the various claims, some of which he accepted, others he rejected and others he postponed until he had further briefing and argument. I think he is wrong on several aspects of his ruling, but there can be no debate that he examined the contentions of both sides with great care and gave reasoned, if not always correct, responses to each question presented.
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