Opinion ID: 2066513
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Marriage Is a Fundamental Social Institution

Text: The second reason why I conclude that the political power factor is particularly significant in the context of the present case is that marriage is a fundamental social institution. That being so, if it is to be changed, as the majority acknowledges that its decision does, it is appropriate that it be done by the democratic process, rather than by judicial fiat. [26] Marriage is more than a relationship sanctioned by our laws. It is a fundamental and ancient social institution that has existed in our state from before its founding and throughout the world for millennia. It cannot be disputed that its meaning has always been limited to the union of a man and a woman. And it cannot be disputed that, by mandating same sex marriages, the majority has wrought a significant change in that fundamental social institution. To change the law of marriage by expanding it to include same sex couples is to change the institution that the law reflects. Furthermore, that change is contrary to the public policy of the state as specifically declared by the legislature. The same section of the civil union statutory scheme that grants equal rights of marriage to civil unions specifically defines marriage... as the union of one man and one woman. General Statutes § 46b-38nn; see also General Statutes § 45a-727a (The General Assembly finds that ... [4] It is further found that the current public policy of the state of Connecticut is now limited to a marriage between a man and a woman.). It is an extreme act of judicial power to declare a statute unconstitutional. It should be done with great caution and only when the case for invalidity is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Kinney v. State, 285 Conn. 700, 710, 941 A.2d 907 (2008). That principle applies with even more force when the judicial act of invalidation constitutes the alteration of a fundamental social institution, such as marriage. Fundamental social institutions are the product of a web of history, tradition, custom, culture, widely shared expectations and law. But they are not static. They change. In my view, there are three ways in which such social institutions change, and sometimes the three ways will, to one extent or the other, overlap or combine with each other. The first, and probably the most common, is by a process of gradual change over time, as a society's (or a state's) customs, culture and shared expectations change with changed conditions, without the prompting of law, legislative or judicial. An example of this is the change over the past decades in the fundamental social institution of the family. It cannot be disputed that our conception of the family has broadened from what it previously was. That broadened reach is reflected in § 45a-727a (3), which, in addressing the best interests of a child who is the subject of an adoption, refers to a loving, supportive and stable family, whether that family is a nuclear, extended, split, blended, single parent, adoptive or foster family .... (Emphasis added.) This list of different types of families is not a legislative prescription; it is, instead, a legislative recognition of what has already happened in society. This court has also recognized the changing nature of the institution of the family. See Michaud v. Wawruck, 209 Conn. 407, 415, 551 A.2d 738 (1988) ([t]raditional models of the nuclear family have come, in recent years, to be replaced by various configurations of parents, stepparents, adoptive parents and grandparents). The second way in which a fundamental social institution may change is by legislation. Thus, the legislature may say, as a matter of public policy, that for a particular purpose or purposes, but not necessarily all purposes, a particular social institution will be recognized in a context in which it may not have been recognized previously. Our civil union statute is a good example of this kind of legislative change of a social institution. The legislature has said that all of the legal rights and obligations of the fundamental social institution of marriage will be extended beyond opposite sex couples to same sex couples, in a new and differently named social institution of civil union. In fact, by virtue of § 46b-38oo, the legislature specifically has provided that, except for certain purposes, [27] [w]herever in the general statutes... the term `marriage' is used or defined, a civil union shall be included in such use or definition. Thus, it may fairly be said that, except for the particular specified purposes of the name of the institution and the corresponding statement of the current public policy of the state, the legislature has changed the fundamental institution of marriage to include civil unions. The virtue of these first two ways of changing a fundamental social institution is that each has the general supporteither explicit or implicitof the people. In the first wayby a natural process of social changethe people have voted for the change by their patterns of behavior over time. In the second wayby legislation the people have voted through their duly elected representatives. The third way is by judicial decision. In my view, this is the least desirable method of change of a fundamental social institution because it is effected, not through the people's behavioral patterns or the votes of their elected representatives, but through the reasoning and analysis of judges, who are accountable to the people only through their oaths and consciences. In this way, a fundamental social institution, which is the product of a state's history, tradition, custom, widely shared expectations and law, is changed by the decision of judges, who need not necessarily give deference to that history, tradition, custom and widely shared expectations. This is an extreme action for a court to take. Therefore, the court ought to be very cautious before doing so, and be very sure that it is constitutionally necessary. The majority opinion fails this test. This is not to say, however, that a court should not, in engaging in the process of constitutional adjudication, change a fundamental social institution. When it is necessary to vindicate constitutional rights, it is the court's obligation to do so, irrespective of the fact that the decision will change a fundamental social institution. See, e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954) (striking down system of legally segregated schools as violative of equal protection of laws, irrespective of fact that such systems could be considered as fundamental social institutions in southern states). The present case, however, is not that kind of case. Instead, this is a case in which the majority has given an answer that is not constitutionally compelled. The public record clearly indicates that the legislature is poised to consider and, in all likelihood, to enact gay marriage legislation. The majority in this case has, unfortunately, unnecessarily short-circuited this socially exemplaryand, in my view, superior method of changing the nature of the fundamental institution of marriage in this state. We cannot escape the reality that the shared societal meaning of marriage passed down through the common law into our statutory lawhas always been the union of a man and a woman. To alter that meaning would render a profound change in the public consciousness of a social institution of ancient origin. When such change is not compelled by a constitutional imperative, it must come about through civil dialogue and reasoned discourse, and the considered judgment of the people in whom we place ultimate trust in our republican form of government. Whether an issue with such far-reaching social implications as how to define marriage falls within the judicial or the democratic realm, to many, is debatable. [The majority of this court] think[s] that this [c]ourt should settle the matter, insulating it from public discussion and the political process. Nevertheless, a court must discern not only the limits of its own authority, but also when to exercise forbearance, recognizing that the legitimacy of its decisions rests on reason, not power. We [should] not short-circuit the democratic process from running its course. Lewis v. Harris, supra, 188 N.J. at 460-61, 908 A.2d 196.