Constitutional Law

Calif. High Court Appears Supportive of Proposition 8

The California Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to arguments in favor of Proposition 8, the state's anti-gay marriage law, according to the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper reported that 'only two of the court's seven justices indicated a possible readiness to overturn' the law during three-hours of argument today in a case challenging the law.

After voters approved the ban on marriage equality last November, civil liberties groups lodged a lawsuit arguing that it unlawfully altered the California Constitution. One of the civil liberties groups challenging Proposition 8, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), argued in a brief before the court that the measure was 'invalid because the people of California have established strict safeguards that prohibit the underlying principles of the California Constitution from being changed by a simple majority vote. By taking away a right of only one group, Proposition 8 violates the most basic principle of our government: that all people are entitled to equal treatment under the law.'

The California Supreme Court must also decide whether to uphold the thousands of same-sex marriages that were recognized before Proposition 8 changed the constitution. The Los Angeles Times reported that 'even the court's conservatives appeared ready to vote to uphold the existing marriages.' The newspaper cited Justice Carol A. Corrigan who voted last May to deny marriage rights to gays. Corrigan asked the attorneys arguing in favor of Proposition 8 whether those couples were 'entitled, if nothing else as a matter of equity, to rely on the law as it existed at the time they married?'  

Raymond C. Marshall, of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, urged the justices to invalidate Proposition 8, saying that it stripped 'a fundamental right' from a group of people. But former special prosecutor of the Clinton-era Kenneth Starr called on the justices to uphold the anti-gay marriage law, claiming that Californians have ultimate 'control over the Constitution.'

Outside the courthouse, the Times reported that, hundreds gathered to voice their support or opposition to Proposition 8.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 05, 2009 (boomark / email).