(June 27, 2015 at 7:52 am)Razzle Wrote: Awesome. Extra awesome that it coincides with Pride.
Sorry if this has already been asked, but not being American I'm confused. Does this actually mean that same-sex couples can get married in any state as soon as it comes into effect, or can state law in practice override the federal law, as it kind-of-does-kind-of-doesn't with cannabis legalisation?
Our system is based on the principle of checks and balances and is basically a ban on absolute power. But the biggest core is that of the "Supremacy Clause", which says while states have rights, the idea is as long as they don't infringe on anyone's rights including minorities. Not even voters have the right to deny minorities rights. It is still up to a minority, if they feel others are stepping on them, to sue in court, the court cannot bring up it's own cases.
The key prevision which rarely gets mentioned about our First Amendment is " the right to petition the government for a redress of grievance". That does not mean the court has an obligation to side with the complaint, but merely that everyone, either majority or minority, have the opportunity to make the complaint to the court.
Even with voters, there still has to be a ban on even absolute power through "majority rule", voting alone does not insure pluralism, there has to be protection even from voters to insure, not just the rights of minorities, but a long term future to prevent fascism. It is why women now have the right to vote despite what the majority at one time wanted. It is why segregation ended despite what the majority at the time wanted. And even now, with gays.
Voting, along with our three branch, separate but equal, concept is designed long term, to prevent monopolies of power. I wish this concept would be applied more to business, which has unfortunately, sold the false idea that it cannot be abusive itself. If the First Amendment rightfully applies to speech, religion, and politics, this anti monopoly concept should also apply to the private sector as well.
