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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Ashland Middle School student spearheads Nepal relief effort 10 things to know for Tuesday Fourth of July celebration theme is 'Be Active, Live Healthy!' Police Reports Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community Education Ashland Middle School student spearheads Nepal relief effort Southern Oregon University's week-long Arts & Research showcase offers a potpourri of academics Ashland Middle School students put their Spanish-speaking skills to the test Grizzlies claim speech championship Levy backers eye final push Environment Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Stopping fire in its tracks Some trails, roads remain closed due to controlled burn Earth Day: Hope for our 'pale blue dot' Business Cars We Remember: Noted musician unravels 55-year Nash Rambler mystery 'Fill'er up' will mean with beer, not gas Ride & Drive: 2015 BMW 428i Gran Coupe Ashland Safeway closes Thursday, to reopen as Haggen on Sunday Cars We Remember: Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were ‘more different’ Politics and elections City of Ashland to consider making recorder position appointive, not elective Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Gray's death Arthur I. Cyr: Cuba’s enduring challenge to American foreign policy – and American politics Kent Bush: Clinton 2.0 is neither new nor improved State News Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Oregon lawmakers begin minimum wage debate Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Death Notices Ronald Mitchell Betts Dickie Miles Hayes Death Notices Ines Tracey Thompson Compton Shareable Check out top import and export for every U.S. state Patriots fan sets up GoFundMe page to help pay for team's Deflategate fine Sports Latest Stories Stormy weather for footgolf kick-off day Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet Chris Singleton: No need for a rematch Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge High school Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Southern Oregon University Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Same old Raiders Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Voices Latest Stories Kent Bush: Moral and ethical standards need to be higher Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Granlund cartoon: Grad party Dianne Williamson: Enough of ‘Say it isn’t so’ Chris Honoré: Supreme Court grapples with tradition, suffrage Editorial Our View: Forest work is a bargain Our View: What price history? Our View: Waging peace after war Our View: Rail car roulette Our View: Reading the tea leaves Letters Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Letters to the Editor, May 8 Letters to the Editor, May 6 Letters to the Editor, May 5 Letters to the Editor, May1 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Guest Opinion: Allegations unfair to Dr. Tomashefsky Columns Chris Honoré: Supreme Court grapples with tradition, suffrage Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Herb Rothschild Jr.: The courage to ask Arthur I. Cyr: Britain’s important election – in royal political context Matthew T. Mangino: Aging prisoners: An American crisis Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Peter Rowan, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys at Rootsfest Movie listings: May 8-14 Dancing People Company presents 'Salon Series' 5 picks for live entertainment Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Theater Ticket Availability OSF to commission three new 'American Revolutions' plays Ticket availability Ticket Availability Ticket Availability Music The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road The Farr Side: CMAs do it right, in many ways Interview: Offspring plays hits new and old on tour The Farr Side: Slow disappearance of physical music Visual Art Movies Movie review: ‘Hot Pursuit’ is a hot mess George Miller returns to his ‘Mad Max’ roots Tom Hardy adapts to life as Mad Max Movie listings: May 8-14 Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Owner of Mix and Amuse to bring Flip burger joint to Ashland Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Tammy Kelly: Add springtime crunch with cucumbers Options abound for gardens in shady spots Tricks and tips to enlarge your small bath Dr. Elaine Heffner: Mothers-in-law Fourth of July celebration theme is 'Be Active, Live Healthy!' Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average ... Ticket Availability ... Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community ... Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average ... Ticket Availability ... Rogue Valley police receive training in interacting with LGBTQ community ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: Supreme Court grapples with tradition, suffrage Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted May. 11, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted May. 11, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Part of George W. Bush’s legacy, to include Afghanistan and Iraq, will be his two nominations (Samuel Alito and John Roberts) to the current Supreme Court of the United States. The appointments are for life and are the gifts that keep on giving (consider the Citizens United decision and the hollowing out of the Voting Rights Act), which is why any presidential election has far greater import than just the election of one individual. Truth be told, I’m not a fan of this court and I also acknowledge that I’m not an attorney and often find legal language dense and inaccessible. But oral arguments before the court are another matter. The justices recently heard what is likely one of the last civil rights cases yet to be definitively settled in America: the issue of same-sex marriage. Why should gay couples not be able to marry anywhere in America with all attendant rights offered heterosexual couples? Listening to some of the comments/questions posed by the individual justices was generally disheartening, but then I acknowledge that I base that response on my conviction that there is no there there. Whether couples of any sexual persuasion should be allowed to marry is a question that should easily be answered in the affirmative. Look no further than the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Shouldn’t any individual be allowed to marry the one he or she loves? Is this question really open to interpretation? But apparently there are doubts in the minds of some justices, which I took to mean that the Equal Protection Clause does not, in their opinion, automatically apply to all Americans regardless of sexual orientation. Justice Antonin Scalia stated, “The issue, of course, is not whether there should be same-sex marriage, but who should decide the point.” He opined that it should be the people or their elected representatives, not the courts. Justice Stephen Breyer, surprisingly, echoed Scalia’s concern when he said, “Suddenly you want nine people outside the ballot box to change (what has been a global institution for thousands of years).” Justice Roberts pointed out that Maine voted to ban same-sex marriage in 2009 and then reversed themselves in 2012. He did not seem to have a problem with a state voting on the Equal Protection Clause and worried instead that a high court decision would truncate debate. What is there to debate? With regard to the above statements: When have we ever voted on the efficacy of, say, the First Amendment, or, in this case, the Fourteenth Amendment? Do we really get to vote on whether black and white people can marry (once pejoratively referred to as miscegenation)? History and long-standing tradition also weighed heavily on the minds of some justices regarding whether they should broaden an institution (one man-one woman) that has existed for millennia. Justice Anthony Kennedy said “millennia keeps coming back to me in this case.” How tradition impacts what is a constitutional right escapes me. The subjugation of women has characterized societies for centuries and yet we, as a nation, have concluded that women should have all the rights and protections of our Constitution afforded men (granted, women’s equality is still a work in progress, e.g. equal pay for equal work). Why is tradition even remotely relevant to this constitutional matter? John J. Bursch, counsel defending the ban on same-sex marriage, insisted that the institution of marriage is under siege and that births out of wedlock had grown rapidly since 1970. This is a lame and specious argument, and he failed to demonstrate any connection between such births and same-sex marriage. In the same vein, as hard as advocates of the ban try, they cannot establish that allowing people of the same sex to marry diminishes or harms the institution of marriage. The court should have definitively settled the constitutionality of same-sex marriage several years ago; they chose not to. Let’s hope this time their decision will be overwhelmingly affirmative and unambiguous. Look for it sometime in June. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. 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