Did I Miss Something Here?

Once upon a time, our system of government, at both the federal and local levels, was based on a three-part cooperative of separate, but equal governing bodies:

• The Executive branch ran the daily activities of the government in the best interests of the governed.
• The Legislative branch made the laws by which the governed lived.
• The Judicial branch determined the legality and constutionality of the legislature's laws.

Now, however, it appears the judicial branch has taken upon itself to legislate from the bench:

New Jersey High Court Leaves Gay Marriage Rights to Legislature
Thursday, October 26, 2006

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey's Supreme Court has left it to the Legislature to decide the rules for gay couples who want to marry in the state.

In a 4-3 ruling Wednesday, the court said the state constitution gives same-sex couples the same civil rights afforded to heterosexual couples, but the lawmakers must decide how to grant those rights.

"The Legislature must either amend the marriage statutes to include same-sex couples or create a parallel statutory structure, which will provide for, on equal terms, the rights and benefits enjoyed and burdens and obligations borne by married couples," the court held.

•Click here to read the ruling (pdf).

The court ruled that the state does not have a "legitimate governmental purpose" in denying same-sex couples "the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts."

Citing the equal protection clause, Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the New Jersey constitution, the court ruled that "committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes. The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to same-sex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process."


Our Commander-in Chief dropped his opinion on this travesty here.