Marriage Protection Amendment

Cato-at-liberty » Reckless Justice: The Marriage Protection Amendment

Here’s a new topic for Chairman Sensenbrenner’s suddenly awake Judiciary Committee: “Does the Marriage Protection Amendment Trample the Constitution?”

How could it trample the constitution? If approved by 2/3 of both houses and by 3/4 of the states (unlikely), it would become a part of the Constitution, but whether it succeeds or fails, how could it be said to trample the Constitution.

Of course, the case seems open and shut. In the landmark Lopez case a decade ago, Chief Justice Rehnquist opened with the basics: “We start with first principles. The Constitution establishes a government of enumerated powers.”

But did he say that those enumerated powers could not be changed by a Constitutional Amendment?