By MOLLY SHIPMAN
Election Day 2008 was defined by many landmark and surprising decisions by the American people. However, my excitement and pride in being part of the democratic process was somewhat undermined when I learned that California voters’ decided to pass Proposition 8, a state ballot proposition that amended the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. John Stuart Mill’s arguments concerning personal autonomy and the role of government, as outlined in his seminal work On Liberty, were not far …