It Begins: First Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down DOMA as "Unconstitutional"

In the beginning of this debate, conservatives argued the laws of marriage must be uniform across states on fundamental issues.

Nonsense, the left said. Each state (or, more accurately, each state's courts, in the main) should be free to experiment. So what if we have a crazy-quilt of differing laws? That's what federalism is all about.

Conservatives argued back that if gay marriage were permitted, courts would quickly force it upon unwilling states, with the argument that marriage benefits must travel state lines.

Nonsense, the left said. A phantasmal worry, bordering on a lie. DOMA insures that this will not happen.

Well, now the First Circuit says DOMA is unconstitutional.

Turns out that crazy-quilt patchwork the left said would work isn't going to be permitted to work. They now join the former conservative position that marriage laws must be uniform on this issue... except they insist the law must be uniformly pro-gay-marriage.

I've been arguing this for a while: If you really want a constitutional amendment, do not outlaw gay marriage. It won't pass. We've already seen the polls.

If you want an amendment, amend the constitution to say that as marriage has existed as between a man and a woman since the beginning of the Republic, no court can claim that the federal constitution or any state constitution mandates it.

Which is obvious.

This will stop the madness of courts continually writing their own law on this issue.

If it passes in a state, it passes in a state. Such is democracy, and such is federalism.

But courts have no right to claim that the authors of the Constitution, and the states which passed it into law, considered same-sex marriage a right. Obviously they did not, and it's high time the courts stopped claiming otherwise.

The Constitution is authorized to be changed by one process-- the amendment process.

There is no provision in the Constitution to add to the Bill of Rights based on the current political whims of five judges.

posted by Ace at 02:24 PM

| Access Comments