April Rogers
September 30, 2012
PS101OL Graded Assignment
According
to poll findings of “The Pew Research Center for The People & The Press:
Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes:
1987-2007”, there is a slow but steady decline of support for traditional
conservative social values in areas such as homosexuality. Republicans remain significantly more
conservative than Democrats but are becoming less conservative. The main reason for the poll results stems
from generational change as those coming into adulthood have less conservative
view than their predecessors or the large segment of society known as The
Boomers. This Pew survey indicates an
increasing acceptance of homosexuality and the percentage of those endorsing
“old fashioned values of family and marriage” have declined. The majority of Americans continue to oppose
gay marriage.
In
my opinion, the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and the courts
should act in judicial restraint on the subject. Specific to the case of Lawrence –v- Texas,
creating a crime of two consenting adults engaging in intimate sexual acts
violates due process and is unwarranted governmental intrusion. The 1996 Defense of Marriage act was signed by
then President Bill Clinton which defines marriage as between a man and a
woman. In recent years, the question of
discrimination and constitutionality has come into play as it is considered
that the federal law intrudes on states’ regulation of domestic relations
(abcnews.com, 2012).
If I was a Supreme Court justice and this case was
brought before me, I’d rule that the federal government has no constitutional
right to dictate the legal recognition of marriage. Under the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment, each state is required to provide equal protection under
the law to all people within its’ jurisdiction, upheld by the Supreme Court in
Brown –v- Board of Education (1954). The
Supreme Court held in that case that
laws arbitrarily requiring sex discrimination violated the Equal Protection
Clause.
We all know that there is a separation of church and
state. We all realize that marriage is a
covenant or agreement entered into before God, usually within a place of
worship officiated by a man or woman of the ministry. Any person who is or has been married is also
aware that individuals wishing to be married must obtain a marriage license
within the state that one wishes to be married in. That should be the extent of governmental
interference in personal relationships. It
is unconstitutional to disallow individuals to enter into a marriage willingly
based upon sexual orientation because marriage has its roots in religion. It should be up to members of the clergy as
to the basis of their faith whether or not to officiate a wedding of two people
of the same sex and not determined by the federal government.
According to the website, freedomtomarry.org, six states
now have the right to perform same-sex marriages including Connecticut, Iowa,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and the District of Columbia/Washington
DC. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington State
have passed freedom to marry bills which have not taken effect. Maryland, New Mexico and Rhode Island respect
out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island allow civil
unions. California, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington State offer broad terms of domestic partnership. Because of the great strides states have made
to protect their citizens under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment, it is doubtful that legislation will backtrack and it is entirely
plausible that the Supreme Court will uphold states’ rights of citizen
protection.
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