Will There Be a Marriage Amendment in North Carolina?

Companion bills, S8 and H55, have been introduced in both houses of the state legislature but are stalled in committee.  These measures would begin the process of amending the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

I was unable to find that any of Guilford County's Democratic elected officials had sponsored or co-sponsored these pieces of legislation. 

It appears that the strategy of the state Democratic party is to allow these measures to languish in committee, and thereby allow the question to be settled in the future by the state's judiciary.  This is a cowardly way to address the issue.  The people of North Carolina are capable of governing themselves on this issue.  They do not need judges to make these decisions for them.

If  NC Democrats agree with the national Democrats that the current institution of marriage is discriminatory and would like to see gay marriage, they should introduce legislation to legalize  gay marriage rather than leaving the dirty work to the courts.  They should take political responsibility for their position instead of indulging intellectual dishonesty through acts of omission.

I would like to challenge Guilford County's Democratic contingent in the state legislature-- Adams, Hagan, Harrison, Jeffus, Jones (am I missing anyone?) to introduce such legislation if this is their position.    If it is not, they should work for passage of S8 and H55, as should the Democrats in leadership in the state legislature. 

And local and state Republicans need to remind voters at the time of the next election exactly what transpired on this issue.  They need to create a  statewide strategy, a la Gingrich '94, to assure that every voter in the state knows where the Democrats in the state legislature stand on this and other social issues.  We will discuss another one of these  issues next week.

Comments

[Doug Clark]

Dorsett.

We have a very conservative judiciary, so our state law restricting marriage to a man and woman probably is safe for quite some time.

Even in Massachusetts, the Supreme Court vote in favor of same-sex marriage was only 4-3. Here, I'd bet our S.C. would vote 6-1 against.

[Joe Guarino]

Doug, I was aware that the State Supreme Court would not necessarily be disposed to making this change because of its composition (although it did not occur to me that the vote would be 6-1). I wonder, though, about the trend toward non-partisan judicial elections and how this may affect the composition of the courts in the long run. I agree, however, that this is more of a long-term concern. I appreciate your clarifying this matter.

I would still like to pass such an amendment because, if a preponderance of individual states affirmatively do so, perhaps it will send a message to the US Supremes regarding the will of the people and the states.

[Doug Clark]

It's hard to say what effect nonpartisan elections ultimately will have on the composition of the courts.

What is a factor is the loosening of restrictions on how judicial candidates may present themselves to voters. Former rules limited their ability to speak out on public policy issues. Now, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from Minnesota (I believe), they have much more latitude. The two newest justices, Paul Newby and Thomas Brady, were quite explicit about their conservative views during their campaigns. And, even though the races themselves are nonpartisan, both political parties still identify "their" candidates and work to get them elected.

One thing to watch is the governor's appointments to fill vacancies. Not surprisingly, Gov. Easley has chosen to appoint mostly Democrats to fill vacant seats. He'll get the chance next January to make an appointment to serve out the rest of Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr.'s term when Lake reaches the state's mandatory retirement age of 72. Lake is a conservative Republican, but you can be sure Easley will appoint a Democrat - although he won't necessarily select a liberal Democrat.

[Joe Guarino]

Thanks, Doug. Very helpful observations in understanding how these types of issues may play out in NC courts.

[Doug Clark]

Joe,

I'm going to follow up on this topic in my News & Record column Wednesday.

[Joe Guarino]

Doug, thanks for the tip. It was a great column; and I offered some comments on your blog (see provided link in the right column).