Mr. Mehta says judges, who were once lawyers, cannot don the robes of social reformers. “Social reform must come from within society, through the actions of the people and their elected representatives,” he said.
He refers to the dissent of U.S. Chief Justice John Glover Roberts Jr. in a case concerning same-sex marriage: “Today, the Court takes the extraordinary step of ordering every state to license and recognise same-sex marriage. Many people will rejoice at this decision, and I begrudge none their celebration. But for those who believe in a government of laws, not of men, the majority’s approach is deeply disheartening.”
“Five lawyers have closed the debate and enacted their vision of marriage as a matter of constitutional law. As a result, the Court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia—for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians, and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are?” he added.
