Breaking news: Vermont is the first state in the Union to adopt gay marriage through legislative enactment.So, Jeff... is this ok?
UPDATE at 12:01 ET: Here's the link to the Vermont Constitution and it's Amendment process.
Here's my step-by-step reading of it:
(1) 2/3 Senate must propose it
(2) 50.1% of the House must accept it
(3) Both houses of the subsequently elected legislature must then accept it by 50.1% or greater
(4) Then 50.1% or more of the voters must accept it.
It looks like the Iowa amendment process from last week.
UPDATE at 2:00 ET: And DC, too.
Way to go Vermont. What's the amendment process?
ReplyDeleteSonja Starr at Concurring Opinions also addressed the point you're making (with reference to Jeff):
ReplyDelete"--Many critics of judicial decisions promoting same-sex marriage had previously focused their complaints on courts' "activist" interpretation of state constitutions or their circumvention of popular will. Will those critics support or at least accept this development in Vermont? (My guess is that some will, because some are sincere in their preference for major social change to come through the democratic process--but for many others the process arguments are fig leaves, covering antipathy toward same-sex marriage itself.)"
http://www.concurringopinions.com/