Palm Beach Post
Letters to the Editor
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Most don’t care about gay marriage
Is disobeying the law an act of nobility or criminality? Seems to depend on the issue. As a nation, we disobeyed the Prohibition law, and some routinely violate speed limits. The Southern Democratic Party spent more than 100 years disobeying federal laws, constitutional amendments and U.S. Supreme Court decisions to maintain segregation and white supremacy.
In fact, our much-touted “rule of law” is trumped by the rule of politics. This suggests that U.S. Supreme Court decisions are as influenced by zeitgeist as much as by strict interpretation of the Constitution.
Disobeying even unpopular laws can result in arrests, fines and/or incarceration. County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky was jailed for not obeying the Supreme Court’s ruling that all laws that prohibit gay marriages are unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.
It does not require a pro-active law to grant a constitutional right, as some supporters of Davis suggest.
While the 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (gay marriage) is controversial, and constitutional scholars can be found on both sides, opposition is vociferous but not widespread. There are very small percentages of people who vigorously support, or vigorously oppose, gay marriage. Most Americans simply do not give a hoot one way or the other. That translates to acceptance.
One clerk in all of America standing in protest may be newsworthy but is still irrelevant. Gay marriage is no longer an issue worthy of public debate.
LARRY HORIST, BOCA RATON
