While I don't necessary support Chief Justice Roberts' opinion and hesitance to reach a decision, I did find the way he looked at the issue very interesting. Roberts found a new way to look at the issue by using non traditional arguments that may make people who are hesitant to support same-sex marriage think of the issue in a different way. “'If Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can’t," Roberts said. "And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn’t that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?”'
What do you guys think of Robert's decision to push the issue further back? As Chief Justice of the United States shouldn't his job be to reach a conclusion and settle the issue?
Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-will-hear-historic-arguments-in-gay-marriage-cases/2015/04/27/083d9302-ed24-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html
Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-will-hear-historic-arguments-in-gay-marriage-cases/2015/04/27/083d9302-ed24-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html
I believe that Roberts' should have made a concrete decision. As Chief Justice, it is his job to decide the issues in the court, instead of pushing them off for other people to decide. I understand that this is a sensitive issue and many people would be upset if Roberts did legalize same sex marriage, but at the same time, this decision creates disconformity among the American nation. If the decision is to legalize gay marriage, it needs to be legalized all across America.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post Andreas! Although I do not necessarily agree with Roberts' decision, I do believe that he made a smart decision regarding this very sensitive issue. It is a very big debate at this time and, like the civil rights movement, things did not happen all at once. It took time and a lot of supreme court cases overruling themselves until America was ready to make the big change. I think a concrete decision on gay marriage is important in the near future, however, time is what is needed for this issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Robert's should have made a decision. A decision will have to be made eventually and pushing it back further is unproductive. That being said, I understand why he did so. This is a very disagreed upon issue, and while there is more support now for gay marriage, the country is still split. It is unsurprising that he is hesitant to bring a such big change to America when it involves a very sensitive issue.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand why he decided to wait to make a definitive ruling, but I do think it would've been revolutionary had he done something. Like Ryan said, this is very similar to the civil rights movement, and at some point someone has to take a stand and make change, rather than allowing someone else to, or waiting until it "slowly" changes. Change cannot happen until someone decides to do something radical, so I think his decision to not make a decision was definitely an avoidance tactic which could be deemed cowardly in this case. When looking back on the civil rights movements we admire those such as Rosa Parks, MLK, and the Brown v. Board of Education decision because of the liberal and proactive stance they took. This issue cannot and will not be resolved if judges and Americans continue to avoid the topic and push on the responsibility to someone else.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand why he decided to wait to make a definitive ruling, but I do think it would've been revolutionary had he done something. Like Ryan said, this is very similar to the civil rights movement, and at some point someone has to take a stand and make change, rather than allowing someone else to, or waiting until it "slowly" changes. Change cannot happen until someone decides to do something radical, so I think his decision to not make a decision was definitely an avoidance tactic which could be deemed cowardly in this case. When looking back on the civil rights movements we admire those such as Rosa Parks, MLK, and the Brown v. Board of Education decision because of the liberal and proactive stance they took. This issue cannot and will not be resolved if judges and Americans continue to avoid the topic and push on the responsibility to someone else.
ReplyDeleteI think that Robert's decision was more politically motivated than based on good legal practices. Gay marriage is currently a very controversial topic. Since this is a civil issue as opposed to economic, environmental, or safety related, it may seem easier for the court to delay. Still, this issue will not go away and does need to be made.Being the head of the supreme court, I think Roberts should have taken a step toward that final solution rather than pushing it back. I think that one motivation for the delay also came from the pressure of the 2016 election. He doesn't want to go against his party in this decision because that would make the republican party look weak when it comes to such controversial decisions such as this. A court decision could have dominated political interviews of the candidates more than they wanted.
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