Legal Opinion · Dissent
Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided November 18, 2003Published
1DissentSpina, J.
(dissenting, with whom Sosman and Cordy, JJ., join). What is at stake in this case is not the unequal treatment of individuals or whether individual rights have been impermissibly burdened, but the power of the Legislature to effectuate social change without interference from the courts, pursuant to *351art. 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.1 The power to regulate marriage lies with the Legislature, not with the judiciary. See Commonwealth v. Stowell, 389 Mass. 171, 175 (1983). Today, the court has transformed its role as protector of individual rights into the role of creator of…
2Cases cited32 opinions
- Griswold v. ConnecticutSupreme Court of the United States · 1965
- Washington v. DavisSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Collins v. City of Harker HeightsSupreme Court of the United States · 1992
- Washington v. GlucksbergSupreme Court of the United States · 1997
- Loving v. VirginiaSupreme Court of the United States · 1967
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