tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222625281347419787.post5906667765152884665..comments2024-03-15T18:52:48.143-06:00Comments on Ethics Forum: Moving the Goalposts on DOMAAlice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9222625281347419787.post-31542002080298806222012-06-10T16:24:53.273-06:002012-06-10T16:24:53.273-06:00Setting aside the moral and ethical arguments, DOM...Setting aside the moral and ethical arguments, DOMA is plainly unconstitutional for one indisputable reason. Congress has no power to define marriage. Neither Art I (sec 8) nor any of the subsequent amendments give Congress any power over marriage. Point in fact the Constitution is silent on the subject. Thus marriage is an issue which falls under the IX and X amendments, the latter of which reads...<br /><br /><i>The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.</i><br /><br />This position is supported by more than 200 years of jurisprudence. Whatever one may think of gay marriage (yuck) the fact remains that it is not a Federal issue and Congress has no say in the matter at all. We live (in theory) within a constitutional republic founded upon the rule of law and the strict separation of powers. That means that one branch of government can't just go off and do whatever it wants, even if we happen to think its a good idea.John (Ad Orientem)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14329907942477160166noreply@blogger.com