This kind of ‘protection’ we can do without

With lightning speed, members of the Tennessee legislature — who are supposed to be in recess — are hard at work trying to free us from the clutches of the federal government.

Only this time, lawmakers are not aiming their fiery darts at the Obama administration. Their references to putting a stop to federal government overreach are directed at the U.S. Supreme Court — and specifically the court’s landmark 5-4 ruling June 26 legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Printed versions of the 28-page ruling were still warm from the copier when Republican state Rep. Sheila Butt of Columbia posted a news release on her website announcing that she would be a cosponsor of an undrafted bill called the “Tennessee Pastor Protection Act.”

“The Supreme Court has trampled on states’ rights today,” she said. “Their constitutional authority is to ‘opine,’ and they were never intended to be the Supreme law of the land.”

If that’s true, then the court’s 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision outlawing separate but equal schools was merely a suggestion. But that’s a story for another day.

The point is, Butt and her cohorts view the court’s same-sex marriage ruling as an abomination, and they feel duty-bound to shield pastors and others from potential lawsuits if they refuse to participate in same-sex nuptials. Several Republican lawmakers want to call a special legislative session to get the vaguely conceived Pastor Protection Act or any other anti-gay marriage bill passed.

Never mind that the court’s decision says nothing about requiring members of the clergy to officiate a same-sex wedding against their will. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor, told The Tennessean newspaper last week the proposed legislation that Butt and others are considering is overkill. Fitzpatrick is not exactly a flaming liberal. He is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the more vocal dissenters to the court’s majority decision.

“There’s nothing in this decision ... that will compel any pastor to do anything. That compels any private citizens to do anything,” Fitzpatrick said. “The Constitution only restricts what governments can do. It has absolutely no restrictions on what private citizens do.”

Yet, that didn’t stop a horde of legislators from huddling unannounced at the Capitol last week to plan their response to the court’s decision. When reporters were allowed into the room, one lawmaker said he wanted the group to meet in private so they could speak freely and not have their comments reported in the media. Of course we know what that meant.

The irony of all this is that some of these same lawmakers will say that the move to get rid of the Confederate battle flag and other Confederate symbols from statehouse grounds is a knee-jerk reaction. Butt, who also makes a living as a motivational speaker,

is the same legislator who opined on the House floor in April that many cases of rape and incest are not verifiable.

Three months earlier, she responded to a letter addressed to Republican presidential candidates from the Council on American-Islamic Relations with a Facebook post saying, “It is time for a Council on Christian Relations and an NAAWP in this country.”

Honestly, we have some real doozies in our legislature.

Without a doubt, the disagreement with the same-sex marriage ruling is based on one’s religious beliefs. And people have a perfect right to condemn the decision based on those beliefs. What we don’t need, however, are a bunch of unnecessary new laws to address issues that don’t exist.

Duly elected court clerks are required to follow the law and issue marriage licenses in their jurisdictions. Some have resigned in protest, and that is also their right.

But it irritates me to see our lawmakers consistently flouting the open meetings and open records law — when they should be conducting the public’s business in public. Even more irritating is their refusal to address more critical public policy issues — such as affordable health care for Tennessee citizens.

Instead, time after time, they opt to major in the minor.