Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
Right, and it goes back to Kevin's original query -- can the constitution be unconstitutional. The statutes forbidding interracial marriage were just that -- statutes. Statutes must comply with both the federal Constitution and the relevant state constitution. The United States Supreme Court held that such statutes violate the federal Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. So, even if one were to assume that the majority of voters in a state wanted to amend their state constitution to prohibit interracial marriage, that amendment would be invalid under the federal Constitution.
But so far, the federal courts have not extended the federal Constitution's Equal Protection clause to include sexual orientation. In other words, there is nothing about Prop 8 that on its face violates the federal Constitution.
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Yeah, and to go even further, there's a pretty sound argument that, because sexual orientation isn't covered by the US Constitution or Federal law, the 10th Amendment guarantees the rights of the states to handle the issue as the people see fit (obviously this has common-sense limits, but not really with marriage).
This is why we hear a lot of bluster about Congress addressing sexual orientation issues, but they never seem to actually get around to the topic in any substantive fashion.
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