The Supreme Court to Rule on Marriage Equality and Conservatives Ought to Want a Ruling in Favor

That Is, If They Have Any Principles

The Supreme Court will hear and decide two cases involving marriage equality, that is the right of same sex couples to marry the same as anyone else.  While the case in California gets most of the interest the case in New York should be the one that Conservatives are most concerned with.

This  involves the question of whether or not the Federal government can deny benefits to legally married same sex couples because the Federal government does not by law recognize same sex marriage.

The case concerns two New York City women, Edith Windsor and Thea Clara Spyer, who were married in 2007 in Canada. Ms. Spyer died in 2009, and Ms. Windsor inherited her property. The 1996 law did not allow the Internal Revenue Service to treat Ms. Windsor as a surviving spouse, and she faced a tax bill of some $360,000 that a spouse in an opposite-sex marriage would not have had to pay.-

So why should Conservatives want a Supreme Court ruling that states the Federal government is wrong and must recognize same sex marriages in New York State?  Because Conservatives believe in the doctrine that powers not specifically allowed the Federal government belong to the states.  And among those powers are the power to determine who is married and who is not. 

So if Conservatives really believe what they say, they will argue vociferously that if New York State recognizes a marriage done in Canada and allows same sex marriage, the Federal government has no right to over-ride.  Of course, notice the condition, “if Conservatives really believe what they say . . . “