Judge: California can't ban same-sex marriage

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by lifesaver
Our govm'ts mandate via the constitution is not just to reason with the majority but to protect the rights of the minority.

When did we vote as a nation to ban gay marrage?

As far as I can tell, the reality of the gay marriage issue is that the real split comes in a quasi-Federalist argument of whether it is a state or federal issue. In reality, it's both - each state can mandate marriage as it sees fit, but the federal government does have provisions to recognize marriages between states for purposes of taxation and other 'rights' such as medical care. (I've already posted my diatribe on this situation, so I'll leave it here)

I do agree with the mandate to protect the rights of the minority, but you run into a sticky situation here, in that the minority doesn't have the rights that you're trying to protect. In fact, the 'majority' would have to extend these rights - and majority rule still carries the day in our representative democratic system. You had a nationwide vote when you elected those leaders.

Originally posted by lifesaver
Again.... If it werent for the actions of the courts, blacks would still be sitting at the back of the bus.

Those pesky judges rewriting laws...... When will they learn?

Again, while you're getting trite here, it's important to emphasize the importance of judicial review to our system of checks and balances. Personally, I think that the Federal Supreme Court doesn't want to touch this issue - you'll see some interesting rulings from the state courts along the way, though, just like this one, which you'll recognize as not exactly following the normal process of review.

This is definitely not a perfect system - in fact, in many states I would fear putting my eggs in this basket right now, as a negative judicial review would be mandate for removal of other 'traditional' rights. However, there really doesn't appear to be any reason other than religion for banning gay marriage, and hopefully upon review this is made clear and is decisively outlined by the courts.

Hopefully, this is a solid step in the right direction.