A number of conservative political leaders have made statements against the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, mandating recognition of same-sex “marriage” in all 50 states.
Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (shown) released a statement calling the ruling “judicial tyranny.” “I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch,” said Huckabee, who is also an ordained Baptist pastor. “The Supreme Court can no more repeal the laws of nature and nature’s God on marriage than it can the law of gravity.”
Another presidential candidate, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) described the period from June 25-26, which also included a Supreme Court’s ruling favorable to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, as “some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history.” Cruz also said he would introduce a constitutional amendment that would subject “lawless” Supreme Court justices to periodic re-election.
Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) who is also running for the presidency, criticized the High Court ruling in a statement to the Washington Examiner:
What this court said is that anybody who does not toe the line is going to be viewed the same way as someone who doesn’t support other civil rights, which is you will be a bigot. Every institution that stands by any type of biblical worldview is going to have to deal with the reality that the government is going to tell you that you can no longer believe this and get any accommodation from the government.
We’re losing [the culture war] because we’re not trying to win.
Another presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) made a statement was pretty vacillating for a so-called Tea Party favorite:
While I disagree with this decision, we live in a republic and must abide by the law. A large number of Americans will continue to believe in traditional marriage, and a large number of Americans will be pleased with the Court’s decision today. In the years ahead, it is my hope that each side will respect the dignity of the other.
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, citing the First Amendment, Article I of the Texas Constitution, and the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, recently granted state employees who object on moral grounds to same-sex marriage some protection against the ruling when he issued an order stating: “All state agency heads should ensure that no one acting on behalf of their agency takes any adverse action against any person, as defined in Chapter 311 of the Texas Government Code, on account of the person’s act or refusal to act that is substantially motivated by sincere religious belief.”
However, so far, no state has taken as strong a stand against Obergefell v. Hodges as did the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1854 against the Fugitive Slave Act, when it declared the legislation — which required the capture and return of escaped slaves to their owners — null and void in Wisconsin.
As the federal courts have become more intrusive into what should be the province of the states, there have been growing calls for nullification coming from the ranks of disenchanted Americans. Under this concept, the states may reject, or nullify, federal laws that they believe are beyond the federal government’s constitutional powers. Among the proponents of this power were Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that nullification is the “rightful remedy” whenever the federal government usurps the states’ powers.
Nullification was a more popular concept before the Civil War, when states were more accustomed to exercising their sovereignty, than they were afterward. For more than a century, it seems that the states have decided that it is too risky to take on Washington. But the two recent Supreme Court decisions that Cruz called “some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history” — King v. Burwell, which effectively rewrote the Affordable Care Act in a manner that guaranteed that ObamaCare will survive, and Obergefell v. Hodges — may motivate more constitutionalists who have had their fill of judicial dictatorship to decide to follow the remedy advocated by Jefferson.
Photo of Mike Huckabee: AP Images
Related articles:
Catholic Leaders Vow to Stand Against Contraception Mandate, Same-sex Marriage
Texas AG: “Reach of Court’s Opinion Stops at the Door of the First Amendment”
Supreme Court Rubber Stamps Same-sex “Marriage” — Time for Nullification
Rome: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Same-sex Unions
Sen. Lee and Rep. Labrador Propose Protection for Religious Liberty
Southern Baptist Leader: Prepare for Civil Disobedience Over Gay Marriage Ruling
