Civil unions are the answer
This has been a tough year in California law for anyone who values sovereignty of the people and seeks liberty. In May, a 4-3 majority of the California Supreme Court struck down Proposition 22, thus allowing same-sex couples to be eligible for government-recognized marriages across California.
This has been a tough year in California law for anyone who values sovereignty of the people and seeks liberty. In May, a 4-3 majority of the California Supreme Court struck down Proposition 22, thus allowing same-sex couples to be eligible for government-recognized marriages across California. Six months later in the November 2008 general elections, Proposition 8 passed with a small margin, once again banning same-sex marriage in the Golden State. Both the acts of the justices and of the voters are unfortunate.
Proposition 22 was a ballot initiative passed by the voters in 2000 with 61 percent of the vote. In overturning it, the California Supreme Court subverted the people’s will in a bout of judicial activism. It is the proper function of courts, justices and jurists to faithfully interpret law, rather than determine what the law should be-judges are not to legislate from the bench. Unfortunately, this is what the California Supreme Court did. This undermines sovereignty of the people-a principle as old as the Magna Carta itself.
In response to this, socially conservative activists coalesced around Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, thereby amending the California Constitution to its original form. While this sovereignty of the people is a good thing, it is not pro-liberty. Governments are instituted among men to protect our certain inalienable rights-among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Governments are not created to determine what a marriage is, or to determine who is eligible to receive a government marriage. Marriage in its proper form is a religious institution, so state governments should get out of the marriage business altogether and instead grant universal civil unions to anyone who wants one. But until this can occur, if a government marriage is going to be available to one set of people, it should be made available to everyone. Proposition 8 does nothing to further liberty. Freedom, liberty and dominion must be placed at the cornerstone of society.
