[Marxism] CA Supreme Court to Rule on Prop. 8 on Tuesday.

[Adam Richmond <adambrichmond@xxxxxxxxx>]

Of interest.
State high court to rule Tuesday on Prop. 8
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
 
Friday, May 22, 2009
(05-22) 10:40 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court will rule Tuesday on 
a challenge to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that reinstated California's 
ban on same-sex marriage.
 
The court announced the impending decision today in lawsuits by same-sex 
couples and local governments, led by San Francisco, seeking to overturn the 
measure that 52 percent of California voters approved in November. If the court 
upholds the measure, it must also decide how the proposition affects the 
marriages of about 18,000 same-sex couples who wed before the Nov. 4 election.
 
Prop. 8 amended the state Constitution to declare that only marriage between a 
man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. It followed the court's 
4-3 ruling in May 2008 that declared the previous marriage law violated the 
rights of gays and lesbians to marry the person of their choice and 
discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.
 
The ruling made California the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize 
same-sex marriage. Since then, the Supreme Courts of Iowa and Connecticut have 
issued similar rulings, and legislatures in Vermont and Maine have also 
authorized same-sex weddings, although the Maine law faces a likely voter 
challenge. Another such law is pending in New Hampshire.
 
Plaintiffs in the California lawsuits argue that Prop. 8 made such fundamental 
changes to the rights guaranteed by the state Constitution that it amounted to 
a constitutional revision, not merely an amendment. A revision requires 
approval by two-thirds of the Legislature or by delegates to a new state 
constitutional convention to reach the ballot.
Attorney General Jerry Brown, who ordinarily defends state laws in the courts, 
joined the opponents of Prop. 8 and argued that the voters lack the power to 
eliminate "inalienable rights."
 
Supporters of the measure argued that the voters have the right to amend their 
Constitution and are entitled to deference from the courts. Most of the 
justices appeared to agree at a hearing in March, and gay-rights advocates are 
already making tentative plans to return to the ballot in 2010 or 2012 if the 
court upholds Prop. 8.
 
At the same hearing, the justices' questions seemed to indicate that the court 
was likely to uphold the 18,000 marriages that were conducted between mid-June 
2008, when their ruling took effect, and the passage of Prop. 8.
 

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/22/BAE017PFC8.DTL


      
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