In The Gay Marriage Case, Obergefell v Hodges, the United States Supreme Court decided that a state may not prohibit same-sex marriage. Instead, it emphasized that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to the gay society through the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment of the United States of America Constitution. The involved decision maker in the case was Justice Anthony Kennedy, who gave four primary reasons for his decision.
The Constitution is the framework for today's modern US government (National, n.d.). "Defines the scope and limit of government power” (National, n.d., par. 2). The United States federal government today still follows the structure in the constitution. This shows that, as Adams said, "the three-and-a-half month convention (was) 'the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen” (Constitution, 2017, par. 4). "The United States Constitution has secured an unprecedented degree of human freedom, upholding the rule of law, securing the blessings of liberty, and providing the framework for the people of America to build a great, prosperous, and just nation unlike any other in the world" (Constitution, 2017, par. 1). Citizens in countries without a Bill of Rights like the United States’ don’t have the same freedoms as Americans. Without the Constitution, businesses would not run like they do today; schools could force beliefs on students; people wouldn’t be able to express themselves. Even though the Constitution is over 200 years old, it has retained its core values, while also adapting to the time (History, 2009). With a simple yet arduous process, the Constitution can be amended to stay with the times. There have been 27 amendments total to the United States Constitution. The first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, are the most famous. These freedoms in the
There are four major critics of the constitution. The weak executive authority is divided into 5/9 individual to minimize the power of the government in which people critic that now the Texas government is weaker compared to the other states. The second criticism is the limit on legislature questions that meets every 2 years for six months and critic because is not sufficient to discuss all the needs of the people. The tree clitic id the bifurcated judicial branch that is divided into 2 separated court systems: civil and criminal. The critics are that are too many courts in Texas, but there are not that many judges in which they don’t have to have a degree in law. The fourth critique is that the Texas constitution has unclear parts or redundant and the critic is that people have many questions about what is written in the document or makes no sense to them. The first and the second critics are also limits that the drafters create to limit the Texas government. The reason for dose limits is because they wanted to have weak constitutions to limit the power they had to make decisions. Also, it was limited to make the executive branch weakness for the government not to have too much power like government
In the case of Barron v. Baltimore in 1833, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights are just restrictions on the federal government alone. To prevent the states from limiting rights granted to the citizens in the Constitution, the 14th Amendment was passed. The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868 as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves after the American Civil War. It was severely contested, especially by the states of the Confederacy that were defeated and were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. The amendment’s first section includes many clauses, but one important one is the Equal Protection Clause. This clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction. The clause has also been the basis for many decisions rejecting irrational or unnecessary discrimination against people belonging to various groups. Eventually, selective incorporation occurred in which the civil liberties granted in the Bill of Rights were applied to the states on a case-by-case basis through the 14th Amendment. Now, the same liberties that were granted to the federal government, were now enacted with the state governments. Same-sex marriage is one of these fundamental rights, rights that require a high degree of protection from government
The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that set outs the structure and how the government functions. This present bill was put into place on February 15, 1876, and is the seventh bill in Texas history including the Mexican Constitution. The reason Texas Constitution is so long is because Texas is one of the largest states in America and its amendments range from the proposed amendments, which range from a measure allowing El Paso County to finance parks and recreational areas, to a measure facilitating partnerships between cities, counties or government agencies, will bring the total number of amendments considered by Texas voters to 656 since the state Constitution. Political Participation is any activity that shapes, affects,
The Texas Constitution Constitutions are a necessary tool in keeping a Nation running in a smooth manner. One is also necessary in keeping the components, which are states, running in an ordered way. The constitution of Texas has a long historical trail from 1827 to 1876 and there are many events that occurred during this time period. The current Texas constitution has many strengths and weaknesses and there have been revisions made to this document. This document limits the way government can be involved in certain problems that arise in Texas. The Texas constitution is a document with positives and negatives but it is definitely a necessity.
The Texas constitution is very similar to that of the original document of 1876. Newer amendments were created overtime to further the Texas Constitution to a modern form of governing since the first signing and implementation of these original rules. The old draft is said to have had “incorporated protection
For centuries same sex marriage has been a dispute, especially in Texas because of how powerfully Texas believes in the bible and how extremely “old fashioned” it is. The debate has been over LGBT equality, just like the black civil rights movement and the women’s movement in the 1960’s. Due to the traditional and common law, Texas does not allow same sex marriage. Actually, the state banned same sex marriage a decade ago or more. The issue was during the 2004 presidential election when Missouri and Louisiana voters approved same sex marriage and eleven states placed amendments. Everyone held their word and continued to protect the laws of Texas. The constitutional amendments that banned same sex marriage well-defined marriage as a union between
The United States Constitution and Texas Constitution are similar, but not indistinguishable. The constitution was made to prevent tyranny in the states from the idea of the Federalists who wanted to build a strong form of government that gave people rights without giving their representatives too much power. Additionally, both constitutions form a bicameral form of government, a House of Representatives, and a Senate. The Federalists wanted a strong central government to help the economic and social tensions; however, the Anti-Federalist feared the elite. Based on that, the purpose for a government was to protect liberty, which meant the reason for writing the constitution was to enable the government with certain limitations; that way the citizens would have rights by electing representatives. The most significant differences are the importance of why the constitutions were formed, the functions of the unitary or plural representation executives and the limited ability of the legislative power.
The Texas Constitution The current version of the Texas constitution is the six version by which it has been governed under since it was framed by the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and adopted on February 15, 1876. This version of the constitution is based on the U.S constitution that came into
The current constitution was drafted during a convention of 90 conservative delegates. A great sum of these delegates believed in the philosophy of the Grange (an organization of farmers). They did not want the opportunity of oppression by the government. This fear of oppression had a great influence on the
The United States Constitution of 1787 was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which addressed the problems of The Articles of Confederation. The U.S Constitution of 1787 was a document that was used to establish the organization, function, and the power of the government which later replaced The Articles
The Texas Constitution The current Texas Constitution was ratified in 1876. It was a natural and necessary reaction to the previous constitution which was imposed by carpetbaggers and radical reformists. The new constitution better represented the political culture of home-grown Texans: limited government and maximum freedom of the citizens. This constitution not only limited the power of government, it also limited governmental terms and set the salaries of government officials. Farmers and [then] conservative democrats were primarily responsible for the current Texas Constitution.
There has been seven Texas Constitutions since 1827 including our current Constitution, which was established on 1876. Our current constitution has been amended hundreds of times because of its tight restrictions. The Legislative department is the dominant branch of the Texas Constitution it is subject to check and balances in the tripartite system. The Executive department limits the government’s power, and the judicial powers is divided into smaller courts. These three branches of the Texas are examples of how restricted and limited our constitution is.
According to DOMA, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife” (sec 3). Until recently 2013, the US Supreme Court finally delivered the verdict that declared section 3 of the DOMA, which is the rejection of right to gay marriage is unconstitutional (Shapiro 208). In “Gay Marriage Is A Fundamental Right” by Nathan Goetting, “The right to many, and to marry the person of one's choice, is a fundamental right and a necessary aspect of human happiness. This has been an explicitly stated abiding principle since the Court used its power of judicial review to strike down as unconstitutional a legislature's definition of marriage in 1967.” Currently, 17 states in the United States have legalized the right to same sex marriage. The realization of DOMA is unconstitutional has further evidenced that gay marriage is one of the civil right that should not be taken away by the government, and it is an inevitable changes that open doors for equality and equity.