Gov.-Elect of Massachusetts Urges Lawmakers to Ignore Constitution

Hugh Hewitt explained the situation in MA in this post:

Robert Travaglini's Big Day

Travaglini is the President Pro Tem of the Massachusetts State Senate, and the man who will decide if the Massachusetts legislature stiffs its electorate and its own Constitution.

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Constitution, 170,000 signatures were collected to place the issue of same sex marriage --imposed on the Commonwealth by a judicial diktat-- on the 2008 ballot. Only 50 of the states' lawmakers must vote "yes" for the ballot measure to qualify, and there are far more than 50 so prepared to vote.

Opponents of constitutional majoritarianism are hoping that Travaglini smothers the measure by refusing to bring it up for a vote, a shameful charade if it happens, and certainly the defining legacy of Travaglini if he denies the citizens the control of their own Constitution.

There has been quite the kerfuffle over gay marriage in Massachusetts. First the courts demanded that the legislature pass a law legalizing it, and then the legislature, when faced with a constitutional requirement to bring an anti-gay marriage amendment to a vote, tried to ignore their own constitution and kill the ballot proposition. The governor-elect was actually pushing the legislators to ignore their constitutional duties:

Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, voted Tuesday to allow a proposed constitutional amendment to move forward that would effectively ban it.

The amendment's backers had collected 170,000 signatures to get a question on the 2008 ballot asking voters to declare marriage to be between a man and a woman, but they still needed the approval of two consecutive legislatures.

Gov.-elect Deval Patrick had urged lawmakers not to vote on it Tuesday, which would have effectively killed it.

Sixty-one lawmakers voted to keep the amendment alive. It's not on the ballot yet, but it's on the way.