October 8, 2004
A judge in Louisiana, defying the will of the citizens of his state, has ruled unconstitutional an amendment to the state constitution that would have banned marriage by people of the same sex.
It was not even three weeks ago that Louisiana voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment, but in these days of judicial terrorism, judges take the view, "who cares what the people think?"
The judge, William A. Morvant, said the amendment was flawed because it had more than one purpose - banning not only same-sex marriages, but also civil unions.
There is a way to fix this problem if Louisiana passes an amendment similar to the proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
That proposed language preserves marriage for men and women.
The states would then be free to decide what sort of arrangements they wish to make for civil unions or special rights for homosexuals.
This issue is too important to be left to judges.
If ever the people had a right to determine how to order their culture, this is it.
Louisiana legislators should get busy passing a new amendment and the people should remove this judge from office as quickly as possible.
In Phoenix, I'm Cal Thomas.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. Watch his television show, After Hours with Cal Thomas, on the Fox News Channel, Saturdays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
