The Power of the Courts

Most people will have heard the news by now. California has legalized same sex marriages. Well, no law was passed explicitly stating that gay marriages were now legal; the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, simply ruled in favor of same-sex unions. Which basically amounts to the same thing.

What everyone should realize here is that the courts, which ideally should simply be the interpreters of the law, actually have the power to "create" law by the decisions they pass. And the California Supreme Court ruling is one such example, as hundreds of gay couples rejoiced in the streets when the decision came out. So now gay couples are allowed to legitimize their union, thanks to the Court's ruling.

Of course, this is not the first instance wherein a court's decision became law; neither is this the first instance wherein a US state legalized gay marriage (the state of Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages in 2004). But the California Supreme Court's decision last Thursday puts the Golden State on the road to becoming the second state to do so.

Well of course this decision has sparked controversies on both sides, with the conservatives pushing to spend more than $10 million on the campaign to overturn this decision. This is how the law works: the state legislature passes a bill, which becomes law; the state Supreme Court, through a decision, can overturn the law, thus effecting a new law. And the only thing that can overturn the court's decision is a constitutional amendment, which the conservative California residents plan to undertake in November.

Few people realize the power of the courts in effecting social change. In fact, the courts seem to be the only branch of government that thinks out of the box, and the backward-loving legislators are actually balanced out by the forward-thinking jurists. But most of the time, the backward folk are more stubborn than the progressive ones, and they will do anything in their power to let the status quo remain as it is.

But again, I would like to commend the California Supreme Court decision, as one small step in the evolution of the human race. Times are changing, society is changing, and everything should change along with it. And legalizing gay marriages is a step in the right direction.

The only question is: when will they do the same for marijuana?