Jay Bookman is a terrific columnist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Recently, he took pains to walk his fellow Georgian's through the
Politics of Gay Marriage.
Two years ago, as Georgia conservatives were rushing a constitutional amendment through the Legislature to define marriage and bar recognition of same-sex civil unions, they were warned repeatedly that the measure was fatally flawed, that it was so badly written that the courts would have to overrule it.
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In fact, Bordeaux suggested, the language might be flawed on purpose, so that Georgia Republicans could twice reap the benefits of putting such a volatile issue on the ballot.
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And thus it has come to pass.
More below.
It wasn't a federal judge, as Bordeaux had predicted, but Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance Russell did indeed toss out the gay marriage amendment. Just as predicted, Gov. Sonny Perdue and other Republicans have followed their prepared script, wailing once again about liberal activist judges overturning the will of the people ... yada, yada, yada.
It seems that the amendment sponsors had combined more than one subject in the Amendment in violation of the Georgia Constitution. They ignored warnings about this infirmity when the Amendment was put to the voters.
If Russell's ruling is upheld by the state Supreme Court, or if the Supreme Court does not rule quickly in the case, Perdue plans to call the Legislature into special session by August, in time to pass a revised amendment and get it on the ballot for the November elections, just as Bordeaux predicted.
There's no rational reason for a special session -- Georgia law already bars same-sex marriage, and that provision faces no constitutional challenge. There's no danger whatsoever that Georgians will soon face the horrifying sight of boys holding hands with boys, lining up on the courthouse steps of Macon or Swainsboro or Elberton to get themselves hitched.
The haste is about politics, about rousing the rabble with an election coming up. If a gay marriage ban is again put on the Georgia ballot this fall, it will no doubt pass again, and by bringing out conservative religious voters, it might particularly boost the candidacy of Ralph Reed for lieutenant governor.