Observations

It’s Time for Good, Old-Fashioned Impeachment

The US Constitution sets up a government of, for and by the people, and state constitutions are modeled after it. The recent decision by the California Supreme Court to overturn a ban on homosexual marriage challenges this paradigm.

Homosexual marriage does not appear in the California constitution, because if it did someone would have discovered it before now. Where, one might justifiably ask, did the California Supreme Court find this right?

Californians have consistently expressed their opposition to and voted against recognizing the idea of homosexual marriages. No Congress or state legislature has ever voted to declare homosexual unions a marriage, an idea that has also been universally rejected at the ballot box. In the 13 states where it was on the ballot in 2004, it was defeated by at least 58 percent of the voters, and by 85 percent of them in one state.

In our system of government the people determine how their country will function through their elected representatives. This point seems lost on four members of the California Supreme Court: Chief Justice George, and Justices Kennard, Werdegar, and Moreno. These four justices created the right of gay marriage out of thin air, and in doing so overturned the expressed will of the people.

In her dissent, Justice Corrigan said: “In my view, Californians should allow our gay and lesbian neighbors to call their unions marriages. But I, and this court, must acknowledge that a majority of Californians hold a different view, and have explicitly said so by their vote. This court can overrule a vote of the people only if the Constitution compels us to do so. Here, the Constitution does not.” Justice Corrigan gets it, and deserves to be applauded for adhering to judicial restraint, putting her personal desires behind her duty to uphold the state constitution. Justices Baxter and Chin also dissented.

This is not about whether anyone approves or disapproves of homosexuality, whether it is right or wrong, whether it is a sin or not, or whether it is a natural part of mankind. This is about government officials—judges in this instance—using their positions to impose their ideals on the rest of us. That is wrong, and cannot be ignored.

When judges violate the will of the people, and mangle the governing document in doing so, they must be removed from office. To restore the California Supreme Court to its proper role, Justices George, Kennard, Werdegar and Moreno should be removed from the bench by the people of California.