Letter to the Editor, Seattle Times

[libertango]

To the editor:

You quote Joseph Fuiten (in "King County judge rules in favor of same-sex marriage," By Sanjay Bhatt, 4 August 2004) as saying, "For the judge and the judicial branch to discover a right which has never existed in human history, has no precedent in American law or jurisprudence..."

Mr. Fuiten has apparently never heard of the American legal concept, carved above the Supreme Court, "EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW". That concept has never been fully enforced, true. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Further, Mr. Fuiten appears to have never read the Ninth Amendment, which states, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Translation: Just because a right is not specifically in the Constitution, again, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Until the Ninth Amendment was drafted, there was resistance to the Bill of Rights. Precisely because it was feared that literalists like Mr. Fuiten would try to limit American liberty.

We may all be thankful the Founders were more forward thinking than that.

Sincerely,

Hal O'Brien,
etc.

*^*^*^*

Thanks again to darkmane for the orginal pointer.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I've read a buch of good letter from you in LJ. What's your tract record for getting them printed?

B

[mokie-sassafras.livejournal.com]

very nice.

[darkmane.livejournal.com]

Happy to point you to the article.

Of course Mr. Fuiten's argument that there is no precedent is bogus, it's just not an old precedent and one he dislikes. It's coming, as the the Baby Boomers die off we will see more inequalities disappear. Others will arise and be defended as dearly by future generations, but these will disappear.