Anyone desiring a preview of what the federal judiciary would look like
under a Barack Obama administration need look no further than a narrow
ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court allowing same-sex "marriage."
By a 4-3 margin, the high court deprived Connecticut citizens of the right
to limit marriage and, thus, societal approval, to the legal and covenantal
relationship between a man and a woman.
The ruling cannot be appealed, in keeping with the dictatorial mind-set of
the majority.
The court majority bought the legal pabulum served up by attorneys for the
plaintiffs that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is akin to once
prevalent laws prohibiting interracial marriage, as well as laws that
discriminated against women for certain jobs and relegated blacks to
"separate but equal" schools and other public venues.
Writing for the majority, Justice Richard N. Palmer revealed his acceptance
of the liberal doctrine of a "living Constitution" constantly in need of
updating in keeping with the times: "Šour understanding of marriage must
yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to
constitutional protection." Using such a standard, if the "understanding" of
the endowed rights of blacks were to devolve to a pre-civil rights-era
acceptance of black inferiority, would Justice Palmer argue that blacks
would then have to give up their rights in order to serve "contemporary
appreciation"? And what else would Justice Palmer and his three colleagues
allow to be determined by contemporary whim?
Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut,
accused the majority of behaving like "robed masters" and "philosopher
kings." He added, "This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger
than gay marriage." He is correct, of course, but such notions are beginning
to fade as more of us either don't care, or are willing to trade a ruling
class - in this case the courts - for individual freedom and the right to
shape societal norms and mores from the bottom up, not the top down.
Connecticut becomes the third state - Massachusetts and California are the
others - to sanction same-sex marriage. California has a measure on its
November ballot, Proposition 8, to reverse a state Supreme Court ruling and
preserve marriage between men and women.