Posted by
TheChair on Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:36:16 AM
BYU Law Professor
Lynn D. Wardle concluded back in 2004 that only a federal constitutional amendment could arrest the virulent spread of same-sex marriage through the courts, even to states where the citizenry disapproves. It's an epidemic reminiscent of the
Dred Scott case (since slaves were property, masters could take them into free states unimpeded),
Bloody Kansas, and the forcible spread of slavery to the free states. Watch the last 5-10 slides on this BYU-Law
Powerpoint presentation on the spread of same-sex unions, marriage and adoption through the states, via the courts.
Because the U.S. Supreme Court often looks at how many states have laws for or against a practice when it decides certain constitutional questions (e.g.,
Lawrence v. Texas (rejecting state ban on sodomy, in part, because so few states did),
Kennedy v. Louisiana (rejecting death penalty for child rape, in part, because so few states allow it),
the outcome of California's Proposition 8 should play a prominent role in future Supreme Court decisions dealing with same-sex marriage.