I agree with Barney Brantingham that same sex couples should be able to marry . I frequently share his frustration with the reasoning of the current majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. Where I part ways is the complaint that the United States Supreme Court is not a democratic institution because of lifetime appointments and deliberations in private.
The lifetime appointments of Supreme Court justices are mandated by the U.S. Constitution — a democratically crafted document that can be democratically amended, albeit with great difficulty. What alternative method is preferable? Shall we elect U.S. Supreme Court judges as they do for many state Supreme Courts?
Consider a U.S. Supreme Court election like the one in West Virginia. There, a party to a case pending before the state Supreme Court contributed $3 million to the campaign of a successful Supreme Court candidate, who then was part of the 3-2 majority that overturned a $50 million jury verdict against that very party who was so generous to his campaign. That’s democracy in action in the courts.