Yesterday Pravda-on-the-Merrimack (Concord Monitor) ran an op-ed by Professor Marcus Hurn of Franklin Pierce on civil unions. He makes two points.
My focus here is on the second point. I agree with Hurn that the civil union law is not a violation of equal protection of the laws (although not based on his reasoning), I also agree with him that a potential legal challenge to the civil union law could lead to the unintended consequence of the NH Supreme Court ruling that both civil unions and marriages have to be available to opposite-sex and same-sex couples, and that it would be hypocritical for anyone who has criticized judicial activism to bring such a challenge.
Opponents of the civil union law should be making their case to the voters, not the courts. Hurn’s op-ed presents the arguments that opponents of the civil unions need to address, if they want to make their case.