A day after the citizens of Missouri made marriage between a man and woman a part of the "Show Me" state's constitution, an activist judge in Washington state demonstrated why such an extraordinary measure is necessary.

Missouri already had a law banning gay marriage. But the state's citizens astutely recognized that an activist judge could come along at any time and invalidate the law by judicial whim. To leave no room for misunderstanding--deliberate or otherwise--Missouri voters made traditional marriage a part of their constitution. That way, no state judge could come along and deem their ban on gay marriage unconstitutional since the ban is now part of their constitution.

The citizens of Washington also banned gay marriage. That ban is not, however, a part of their state constitution. Today, a judge in Seattle overturned the will of the people. He deemed the traditional definition of marriage--the definition understood by both the authors of the Washington state constitution and the U.S. constitution--as unconstitutional.

Longterm solutions to the practice of legislating from the bench include impeachment, limiting the jurisdiction of the courts, and appointing honest people to the bench. The more immediate solution is to amend state constitutions. A jurist's usurpation of the lawmaking process in Washington vindicates the wisdom of such a course.