Same-Sex Marriage Op-Ed

An interesting op-ed in the New York Times on same-sex marriage - - - and what makes it interesting is its authors:

David Blankenhorn is president of the Institute for American Values and the author of “The Future of Marriage.” Jonathan Rauch is a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and the author of “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights and Good for America.”

The op-ed calls, predictably enough given its joint authorship, for a compromise:

clinging to extremes can also be quite dangerous. In the case of gay marriage, a scorched-earth debate, pitting what some regard as nonnegotiable religious freedom against what others regard as a nonnegotiable human right, would do great harm to our civil society. When a reasonable accommodation on a tough issue seems possible, both sides should have the courage to explore it.

Assigning students to research op-eds or read particular ones can bring current policy debates into our study of cases.  And having law students write an op-ed - - - or perhaps two op-eds, one on each side - - - can be a great writing exercise and method of learning to articulate policy.   

RR