Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by nsxwolf on Friday June 26, 2015 @12:39PM
(#9785883)
Based on this flowery language on the 14th Amendment in the majority opinion, I'm having trouble understanding why the 14th Amendment doesn't make marijuana bans illegal too.
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Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by lisper on Friday June 26, 2015 @01:13PM
(#9786196)
Because marijuana bans apply to everyone equally.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by nsxwolf on Friday June 26, 2015 @01:17PM
(#9786231)
That sounds like an attempt at a constructionist argument. That's not what I'm reading at all in this opinion.
I'm reading about the 14th Amendment being something that develops over time, helping people discover new freedoms, and be the very best they can be. It's fluffy stuff.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by nmrm2 on Friday June 26, 2015 @01:48PM
(#9786473)
Did you read the opinion? Decisions typically contain some rhetorical flair ("fluffy stuff"), but there was plenty of substance to this decision. See e.g. pages 3-5 of the Syllabus. None of this analysis would be relevant to a decision about marijuana, and many of the standards the decision sets forth would fail in the case of marijuana.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by lisper on Friday June 26, 2015 @01:42PM
(#9786428)
Yes, I agree, but the 14th amendment requires some kind of asymmetry in order to have effect. To violate equal-protection, something has to be unequal.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by dllthomas on Saturday June 27, 2015 @12:55PM
(#9790728)
"To violate equal-protection, something has to be unequal."
Like, say, incarceration rates.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by lisper on Saturday June 27, 2015 @01:14PM
(#9790791)
Not sure I get your meaning here. People who break the law are incarcerated more than people who don't break the law. That's not an equal protection violation.
Re:Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right, Supreme Court Rules
by dllthomas on Saturday June 27, 2015 @01:30PM
(#9790852)
I was speaking of racial disparities in incarceration rates for marijuana possession, despite no similar disparity in usage rates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/04/t...