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Constitutional authority for same-sex marriage bill
November 2nd, 2013 · Court, Legislature, Politics
The stock testimony on SB1 from religious opponents of the bill to legalize marriages between people of the same sex still contends that the 1998 amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution somehow requires another constitutional amendment to undo. Although these thousands of people have obviously been presented this as true, it is simply wrong, as even a cursory reading of the amendment makes clear.
People seem to have the idea that the constitution was changed to prohibit anything other than traditional, man & woman marriages.
But here’s what it actually says:
“The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.”
The legislature has the power to choose whether or not to do so.
If SB1 is passed, the legislature will have exercised its discretion not to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.
The legal opinion on this point by Attorney General David Louie, dated October 14, 2013, is both detailed and easy to follow. You can find it posted online with other recent opinions.
Listening to testimony in opposition to the bill, you get the impression the legislature is preparing to prohibit marriages between opposite-sex couples. It’s as if they fear sheriff’s deputies will be waiting outside their churches to round up people and herd them into sex-segregated buses for transportation to U.N. sponsored reeducation camps.
Testimony repeatedly refers to freedoms being taken away by the bill, although to tell the truth I’m not at all clear which freedoms they’re talking about. The freedom to marry who they choose? Obviously not. The freedom to believe that some marriages are more holy than others? No, they can still believe what they want. The freedom to be a bigot? To be ignorant?
more Ian at the link.
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