Justice Roberts: “It’s None of Your Business”

 

Well, no, Chief Justice Roberts, in his majority opinion that upheld the unconstitutionality of California Proposition 8, the so-called ban of gay marriage in that state, did not actually say that, that the enforcement of California’s law was none of the proposition supporters’ business, but that is what he meant.

 

They had no standing, in the Chief Justice’s opinion, and having no standing, had no right to argue the case in his court.

That’s kind of rare.

From SFGate:

“The justices ruled 5-4 that the sponsors of Proposition 8, the 2008 California initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, could not represent the state or its voters in appealing lower-court rulings that held the initiative unconstitutional. The measure's sponsors had stepped in after Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris declined to defend Prop. 8.”

“Once Prop. 8 passed, its sponsors had ‘no personal stake in defending its enforcement that is distinguishable from the general interest of every individual in California,’ said Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion. They ‘answer to no one ... have taken no oath of office’ and ‘are plainly not agents of the state,’ he said.”

 

In other words, it’s none of your damned business…butt out.