A friend of a friend of mine, writing about same-sex marriage, wrote this on her blog. I haven’t linked to it, because I don’t think this person wants a link from “Alas,” but I can’t resist replying to it:<\/p>\n
1) In only one of the four states where gay marriages were legally recognized, was a court responsible (the famous Massachusetts Supreme Court Goodridge<\/i> decision). In the other three states, the same-sex marriages were put in place by elected officials and then invalidated or halted by judges. Both sides of the SSM debate have used judges to further their cause – your side more than mine.<\/p>\n
2) More fundamentally, your comment ignores that judges (or, more accurately, courts) are not an outside imposition on the American system. They are part of the system, part of the Constitutional design of checks and balances. Are you seriously suggesting that courts should not be allowed to over-rule the legislature – or the popular will – ever? Should courts take polls of public preferences before issuing legal opinions? That’s an approach which goes radically against the Constitution’s design.<\/p>\n
3) To claim that the Massachusetts judges ever said or implied “the masses are too stupid to know what’s good for them” is a lie, and one that covers up the real issues. What they actually said, in the Goodridge<\/i> decision, is that the equal protection provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution prevents the state government from providing marriage rights to opposite-sex couples but not to same-sex couples. They didn’t say a word about what was good or bad for the masses, or about the intelligence of people who are against SSM.<\/p>\n
I happen to think that the Goodridge<\/i> judges were correct, but I admit that it’s possible for someone to disagree with me in good faith. Will you admit the reverse – that when judges make a decision you disagree with, it’s possible they were interpreting the law as best they understand it, and not actually accusing the masses of being stupid?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A friend of a friend of mine, writing about same-sex marriage, wrote this on her blog. I haven’t linked to it, because I don’t think this person wants a link from “Alas,” but I can’t resist replying to it: [Voting … Continue reading