House's New Anti-Gay Marriage Bill Unconstitutional Groups Warn

[Cannikin]

(Washington) Two leading LGBT civil rights groups warned Wednesday that The Marriage Protection Act is unconstitutional and if it is passed Thursday they will fight it to Supreme Court.

The bill would block federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from hearing cases challenging federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee July 14 by a vote of 21-13 the same day that the Federal Marriage Amendment lost in the Senate. Its sponsor, Tom DeLay (R-Texas), says Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to remove issues from federal courts' jurisdiction.

But, Lambda Legal said that it was never intended to be used to prevent an identifiable group from being blocked from the judicial system.

continued:
http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/07/072104lambHouse.htm

[Amarant]

1. I read "jurisdiction" to mean

the physical "jurisdiction" of a federal court. (i.e. this court has jurisdiction in Texas/New Mexico - this one in Florida/Alabama" etc.

I don't think "jurisdiction" (except in DeLays interpretation) can be read as the ability to hear only certain cases. I can NOT believe the founders - who clearly wanted 3 branches of government - would let the legislature nullify the courts so easily.

The courts exist partly to check the legislature.

OF COURSE if the legislature is passing a law the majority in the legislature want that law to stand constitutional or not. The framers intended for the courts to strike down an unconstitutional law. But if the legislature is passing unconstitutional laws - and has the ability to prohibit the courts from reviewing them - wouldn't the legsilature just prohibit every unconstitutional law from being reviewed when they passed it?

And IF it was intended for the legislature to have that power - well then why even give the courts the ability to review them? Obviously the legislature would just prohibit them from doing so with that power - making the ability to review them pointless. And why declare the judicial an equal (instead of inferior) branch of government? Giving the legislature this kind of power to nullify them certainly makes them inferior.

Hopefully the SCOTUS will see it this way.