The Atlantic Feels the Urgency

The Atlantic says in its latest newsletter “Time for SCOTUS to Tackle Gay Marriage.” Meaning: Do it quick, before a Republican is elected president and changes the Supreme Court.

The writer is, of course, upset at the decision of the sixth circuit court of appeals, apparently not because he rejects the reasoning but because he rejects the conclusion. He highlights this worrisome bit from Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey “blistering” dissent:

More than 20 years ago, when I took my oath of office to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, I solemnly swore to “administer justice without respect to persons,” to “do equal right to the poor and to the rich,” and to “faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me…under the Constitution and laws of the United States.” If we in the judiciary do not have the authority, and indeed the responsibility, to right fundamental wrongs left excused by a majority of the electorate, our whole intricate, constitutional system of checks and balances, as well as the oaths to which we swore, prove to be nothing but shams.

In other words, we must impose our understanding of the good on the people of the country, because we know better/are morally superior/etc., even though the Constitution she’s sworn to uphold gives the people and the legislature the authority to make these kinds of decisions about the good. That is the voice of the American Stalinist. See this, also in The Atlantic.