Hey, don’t look at me, Chief Justice John Roberts is probably thinking right now. Roberts authored the dissenting view in the Supreme Court decision delivered minutes ago that guarantees gay couples the right to marry. The ruling was 5-4.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, held that “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.” Kennedy added:
It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
Roberts, who joined the majority in yesterday’s wrong-headed decision in King v. Burwell, was curiously circumspect in his dissent, writing:
If you are among the many Americans — of whatever sexual orientation — who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.
What, one might fairly ask, does he know about the Constitution?
