Braun said that the Supreme Court should be careful when it authors sweeping rulings that federalize certain issues, like Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 decision that overturned state laws banning interracial marriages.
Braun, who is from Indiana, told Dan Carden at The Times of Northwest Indiana that when it comes to issues, you cannot have it both ways. The beauty of the system is that the differences among our 50 states in points of view should express themselves.
Braun was initially asked if the Supreme Court would practice judicial activism if it overturned the Wade decision. He said that the Supreme Court went too far in its 1973 decision and that some issues are best left up to individual states.
Braun said when asked if he was questioning the Loving ruling that he was not going to be able to have his cake and eat it.
He was asked about a landmark Supreme Court decision regarding contraceptive use.
You can list a lot of issues, but they aren't going to all make you happy in a given state.
Braun said there was no question that the Constitution prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race.
Braun said that he condemns racism in any form, after he misinterpreted a line of questioning about interracial marriage.
Braun's point is in line with how many Republicans wanted to treat same-sex marriage, preferring that voters in each state get a chance to weigh in as opposed to making it a federal right. States have often restricted civil rights as a result of the expression of this view. Local and state laws allowed for racial segregation during the Jim Crow era.
The Washington Post reported that Alabama and South Carolina had laws on the books that made interracial marriage illegal. In a world without Loving v. Virginia, the laws could have been enforced.
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