California Dreaming

In an interesting turn of events, California is no longer the most liberal and proactive state. The supreme court upheld the ban on same-sex marriage. (MSNBC article here.) While I think the amendment that passed in November should never have passed, I feel justice was done in this case. Let me explain.

In the American political system the courts are meant to up hold the will of the people (as embodied in the constitution and laws in an order of importance). In California the people said that they do not want to allow gay marriage. Thus if the court had struck down the amendment then the court would have been placing itself above the constitution which would have far reaching consequences for the country. What is slightly confusing is that the case made it to the supreme court, it should have been an open and shut case, the constitution says it is illegal so the court must uphold it. So the court had to rule that the amendment was constitutional.

I know a lot of people do not like this ruling, me neither, however you have to agree that the opposing ruling of the court would have undermined the system entirely. The issue on the table is that in the next election (or voting period) there will need to be another ballot measure to reverse the November amendment and instead affirm the rights of gay people to marry. I know it is not immediate and it may not be what some people want, but the system is what it is and it is there for a reason. If we sidestep the system (which has happened in the past) then the system starts to fail and people lose faith. The system is made to prevent huge changes all the time based on popular opinion at that time, think of it as a low-pass filter of the current political climate if you will.

What is more ambiguous is that the affirming the already signed marriage licenses. This is actually a productive ruling in that respect as well. If they removed them then they set a precedent of rejudging actions and people by laws made after that action. This would also be very bad. You could own a red car, then a law could be made to put in jail all people with red cars and then you would be guilty even if you sold that car years ago.

So basically, in a state that rarely has rationality, I feel that justice was done in this case. Even though I do not agree with the 50%+1 people in California who voted against gay marriage.