Judge not, because it probably won't stand up

House Republicans have decided that since a constitutional amendment is out of the question, they will try and pass a law taking gay marriage out of the jurisdiction of the federal courts.

After the Senate last week declined to consider a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, House Republicans began pushing a measure they say would bar federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from hearing cases concerning a 1996 law called the Defense of Marriage Act.

"The U.S. Constitution explicitly grants Congress the power to check the federal courts and prevent them from imposing homosexual marriage on every state in the union," said Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., chief sponsor of the legislation that would remove the marriage law from jurisdiction of the courts.

Apparently Hostettler feels that once this cat is out of the bag, it will be easy to get him back in. This seems like an awful idea not just because of my feelings on gay marriage, but also because of the potential abuse by the majority in Congress. Why, we could use it to ban abortion! Or bring back slavery! Why not make George Bush our president forever!

Think I'm overreacting?

Making this attack all the more ominous is House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's stated intention to promote similar bills to bar court challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance and, potentially, on other social issues. This is as wrong as wrong can be. The House should not strip courts of their authority in order to protect bad policy -- or even good policy -- from constitutional scrutiny.

After failing to amend the federal constitution, this claim seems a little disingenuous:

"This bill is really a reaffirmation of states' rights," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., chairman of the House Rules Committee.

Finally, I thought this was kind of funny:

"The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body, like gravity, ever acting with noiseless foot and unalarming advance" is "gaining ground step by step and holding what it gains."

Those words may sound like something President Bush would say to justify a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. In fact, Thomas Jefferson spoke those words in 1821.

These words sound nothing like what President Bush would say.

*UPDATE* First story I see when I get home from work? House OKs Gay Marriage Jurisdiction Bill.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said it could find no precedent for Congress passing a law to limit federal courts from ruling on the constitutionality of another law, although Democrats said opponents of civil rights legislation tried to do the same thing.

This is how badly Republicans hate the idea of gay marriage. Rather than waste time with this, isn't there some sort of report they could read, maybe try and make the country safer?