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Well even California voted Prop 8 down, and the feds overturned it.
I know there are many issues in California - but why wasn't the vote challenged as unconstitutional BEFORE it went to vote? They thought they would win. And when they didn't - NOW all of a sudden it's unconstitutional.
By any means necessary - that's how it works.
Strictly speaking SCOTUS did not strike down "Prop 8", just said that groups opposing a lower court decision did not have legal standing to challenge. Since the CA legislature, AG and governor would not defend the law the rest as they say is history. However it does not mean sometime in the future a governor of CA or AG couldn't bring an appeal. Highly unlikely but still....
The last sentence of the first paragraph of the 14th Amendment:
So, the first part say that no state can abridge privileges that a person may have in another state. That sounds to me like Texas has to recognize marriages performed in Massachusetts. The last part of that sentence is called the "equal protection clause" and basically requires the government (fed, state & local) to treat citizens equally. Several states have had anti-gay marriage laws tossed out by the courts because they violate the equal protection clause.
It really doesn't matter which judge rules on it. They are all well versed in the Constitution. They rule according to the Constitution and the precedents set in prior court rulings. They are not being activist judges. They are just accurately reading the Constitution.
Now, which part of the Constitution did you mean when you said they misinterpreted the Constitution?
I don't really agree with you on this. Judges are not "accurately reading the Constitution" in their ruling. It would be more correct to say they are accurately reading public opinion. The principle which today seems so obvious, would not have even been considered decades ago. When the 14th was enacted and for the next 100 plus years no one in his right mind would have argued that it applies to homosexual marriage. It is the shift in public opinion that shifts the courts and bends the Constitution along the arc of progress. That is as it should be in a dynamic democratic society.
It is the shift in public opinion that shifts the courts. That is as it should be in a dynamic democratic society.
Not really. Public opinion in the District of Columbia was massively in favor of banning handguns, but the Supreme Court overturned the law on Constitutional grounds anyway -- and rightly so.
Not really. Public opinion in the District of Columbia was massively in favor of banning handguns, but the Supreme Court overturned the law on Constitutional grounds anyway -- and rightly so.
I think guns is the next frontier. Gun control is a matter of time. Again, public opinion (overall) is clearly on the side of very limited control at the moment. That won't last. Anti-gun forces will gradually shift public opinion just as was done with gay marriage. The second amendment will be reinterpreted.
In a sense, I suppose, but it is more orderly than that. Public opinion ten years ago would never have supported decisions being made today. But the whole field changed over. Now, SSM is acceptable to the point that people have come to believe it is a right. Judges see things too.
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