I understand the intent and spirit of the decision. I'm concerned about the letter of it. Because the wording of the decision and opinions on it is just bonkers, it can very easily be used to protect stuff it wasn't meant to protect which can be a bad thing and very often is. All it takes is a stupid judge, an unscrupulous lawyer and a criminal. In fact, the decision is already being used as a justification/defense for a teacher accused of having sex with a student in a city not far from where I live. If it is successful, the teacher stands to regain her position, as teacher of the student. You can't fire and/or not hire someone for something that's protected by the constitution. Not even talking about marriage. Just swapping of bodily fluids.
I hadn't even thought of incest, but let's flex the definition of the words "adult" and "consent" a little bit and Forrest Gump's girlfriend can get married to her very loving dad, who is always hugging her and kissing her and touching her. Catholic priests hooking up with little boys, Farmer Foghorn Leghorn getting a marriage license for him and his horse, maybe therapists can get in on the action and take advantage of their extremely vulnerable and unstable clients. Definitions get bent all the time. Just ask Clinton. What does "is" mean? I don't know anymore. No one can agree on what adult means, and it's disconcerting how many
people have skewed definitions on what consent means.
Edit:
Relevant.
Because the Supreme Court is the Supreme Court, their decision overrides any conflicting law in any municipality and jurisdiction. For instance, there's a law on the books in Texas' Title 5 that outlaws homosexual conduct. It's still there, it just has a big line scratched through it because of the 2003 Texas Supreme Court decision on Lawrence v. Texas. But that's just one state that was ready to make a change. When you're going federal, it's a change to all states, all at once, no takebacks and absent state representation or recourse.
I just disagree with the method. Should have been done via legislation. Legislation can and often does get it wrong the first time around but it can be fixed with a revision. A Supreme Court decision is so difficult to overturn, amend, refine or correct, even if the justices wanted to (they don't because that means admitting screwing up), because they need a case brought before them to do so.