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Opinion
Courts lack authority to OK gay marriages
Top Headlines In reference to your editorial on gay marriage (March 5), unless the state constitution gives a legal definition of marriage different than the definition in the dictionary, the courts have no authority to say such marriages are marriages. Is there no one that can tell this to the court? There are many lawful restrictions on our lives, such as use of public restrooms, voting, drinking and driving. Are they discriminatory? Emil Ferencik Foxboro
Post Your Comments dan k. wrote on Mar 10, 2007 6:49 PM: " Settledown: The dictionary defines bigotry as follows: big·ot·ry /ˈbɪgətri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[big-uh-tree] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -ries. 1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own. "Congratulations, you have just described yourself!"
p.s. Legislators make law, not the judiciary. " Spamalot wrote on Mar 10, 2007 4:52 PM: " Mr. Ferecik overlooks one basic principle about the government and the state constitution. John Adams, the author, specifically delegated the power to interpret the state constitution to the SJC. This was different from the US Constitution, which had to be interpreted by the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall in the Marbury v. Madison decision to grant the court the power of constitutional interpretation. Mr. Ferencik, due to his clearly prejudiced viewpoint on homosexuality and same-sex marriage, chooses to overlook this important element of our state government in order to promote his own desire that the court be denied the power to upset his viewpoint. So much for learning basic citizenship. " MYOB wrote on Mar 10, 2007 12:55 PM: " I have been married for more than 32 years and cannot see how allowing people of the same sex to marry has made any difference to me, my marriage, or anyone else's. Can anyone give us a single instance of how same sex marriages have hurt them or anyone they know in any way? I say let gay people marry and mind your own business. " Settledown wrote on Mar 10, 2007 8:58 AM: " Those examples are completely different. None of them deny basic human rights and if you can't see the difference, you need to re-evaluate. Put yourself in the position of someone who isn't allowed to marry based on an antiquated system. How would you feel? And yes, it has nothing to do with feelings. But really. The bottom line is that people who deny gay unions/marriage don't see gay men and women as human the same as heterosexual men and women. It's basic bigotry. It needs to stop. If the courts can decide guilt or innocence of criminals then the courts are able to dictate and interpret law. " or
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