Leave it to legislatures
State legislatures should define state-sanctioned marriage.
Certainly, county commissioners don't have that right. The Oregon Supreme Court clearly and unanimously ruled Thursday that Multnomah County (Portland) was out of line last year in granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Commissioners there had decided that not doing so would violate the Oregon constitution.
The justices reminded the county folks that deciding constitutional issues is the work of the courts, and don't forget it.
The California Supreme Court ruled exactly the same way in nullifying same-sex marriages that had been permitted in San Francisco after Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to substitute his own judgment for that of the courts and legislature.
Even the courts should defer to state legislatures. That's part of what the three dissenting justices (out of seven) in the landmark Massachusetts ruling in 2003 said.
The contention that there's a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry is dubious, in my opinion. But the threat of such rulings has prompted states across the country to amend their constitutions prohibiting such interpretations. North Carolina hasn't done that - yet - but let a case work its way up our judicial system and it will.
But this is a matter better left to legislatures. Proponents of same-sex marriage should try to enact laws to redefine marriage as they want it rather than appeal to the courts or, worse, look for elected officials to circumvent the legal process entirely.
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