The worst part of the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage is the failure to connect this decision to the Constitution. Even the reckless ROE  V. WADE case was based on a “right to privacy” supposedly stemming from an “emanation of a penumbra” in our founding document. But marriage isn’t about privacy; it is by definition a public institution, officially sanctioned by the state. The five justices who altered marriage forever did so not because the Constitution demanded it or ever suggested it but because they thought it was a good idea. They thereby impose judgment based on personal whim, with no accountability to a deeply divided public. When unelected officials wield unaccountable power it’s an affront to democratic principle and our representative republic. The Chief Justice got it right in his stinging dissent, inviting gay marriage backers to “celebrate today’s decision.” But then John Roberts added: “But don’t celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”