Let's get creative (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Following in the footsteps of the failed FMA vote, conservative Republicans are looking for other options to hold the interest of their conservative right wing. The Hill reported last week that the GOP Leadership in the House is considering several new proposals. Among these is a proposal to strip the authority of federal courts over the issue of same sex marriage, with the hope of protecting the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits states from being forced to recognize marriages from other states.
What the Hill doesn't address is the fact that such a proposal could also take away the potential for federal courts to overrule state court actions granting such marriages, a judicial tactic attempted by Massachusetts conservatives following that state's Supreme Court ruling granting same sex marriage.
While conservatives haven't seen much success in that tactic, they're banking on the fact that closing the door will do more good than any potential help it would be to them were it left open. House Republicans like the tactic so much, actually, that they're already planning other bills to strip federal jurisdiction over the Pledge of Allegiance and, when the time is right, perhaps abortion; late last month, Professor Martin H. Redish testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution that it is "virtually impossible to say definitively what the outer limits of this congressional power actually are." That ringing endorsement of their omnipotence should excite the right-wingers.
It's not good policy for either party to attempt to dictate where Congress is and is not fallible; while the marriage jurisdiction proposal, like the FMA, will likely see a quick demise, the Republicans should take a look at the precedent they're setting and ask themselves if they would look forward to being on the other end of it.
Related Posts:
Success, failure and the FMA
Platform for Propaganda
Some of these kids are not like the others
Congratulations! It's a... net gain?
What the Hill doesn't address is the fact that such a proposal could also take away the potential for federal courts to overrule state court actions granting such marriages, a judicial tactic attempted by Massachusetts conservatives following that state's Supreme Court ruling granting same sex marriage.
While conservatives haven't seen much success in that tactic, they're banking on the fact that closing the door will do more good than any potential help it would be to them were it left open. House Republicans like the tactic so much, actually, that they're already planning other bills to strip federal jurisdiction over the Pledge of Allegiance and, when the time is right, perhaps abortion; late last month, Professor Martin H. Redish testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution that it is "virtually impossible to say definitively what the outer limits of this congressional power actually are." That ringing endorsement of their omnipotence should excite the right-wingers.
It's not good policy for either party to attempt to dictate where Congress is and is not fallible; while the marriage jurisdiction proposal, like the FMA, will likely see a quick demise, the Republicans should take a look at the precedent they're setting and ask themselves if they would look forward to being on the other end of it.
Related Posts:
Success, failure and the FMA
Platform for Propaganda
Some of these kids are not like the others
Congratulations! It's a... net gain?
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