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Like other efforts to undermine judicial independence, the jurisdiction stripping movement is a results-oriented power play. Those who seek to strip the courts of jurisdiction are simply afraid that the courts will render decisions they would find unpalatable. Much of the effort focuses on the area of marriage, where radicals opposed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights are concerned that courts will follow Massachusetts’ lead in enforcing equal marriage rights.

In 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called “Marriage Protection Act,” which would deprive federal courts of jurisdiction to consider challenges to the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA defines marriage as being between a man and a woman only, and allows states to refuse to recognize marriages by same-sex couples legally performed in other states. The MPA would also prevent courts from considering challenges to the MPA itself. If the MPA became law, it would prevent the federal courts from exercising their 200-year-old duty to “say what the law is” by ruling on the constitutionality of legislation. Congress would effectively make itself both lawmaker and judge in this area of the law.