June 27th – Incongruity in Supreme Court Ruling on Same Gender Marriage

Supreme Court

Here are some highlights from the Court’s opinion, as read by Kennedy:

  1. “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were.”
  2. “The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy, and spirituality. This is true for all persons, whatever their sexual orientation.”
  3. “It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right
  4. “The right of same-sex couples to marry that is part of the liberty promised by the Fourteenth Amendment is derived, too, from that Amendment’s guarantee of the equal protection of the laws.”

 

Chief Justice, John Roberts, used these words to voice his dissent with the majority opinion:

“If you are among the many Americans — of whatever sexual orientation — who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”

 

As I read what he writes he is stating the ruling on June 26th was not based on the Constitution.  That confuses me because Justice Kennedy makes specific reference to the 14th Amendment in his explanation of the ruling.  It appears to me that Justice Roberts is simply voicing his displeasure that his opinion was not the prevailing opinion on the case.

 

One thing is sure; the ruling will be one of the most discussed rulings of the Court since the Brown V. Board of Education on segregation.  And I see a parallel here because now there is one definition of marriage with it being available to all.  Today the ruling clearly defined marriage as a civil right just as access to education was defined as a civil right in Brown V. Board of Education.