Constitutional Law

Calif. High Court To Consider Legal Challenges To Same-Sex Marriage Ban

The California Supreme Court will hear legal challenges to the anti-gay marriage ballot measure approved by voters on Election Day. The state’s top court in a 2-page order said it would determine whether the ballot measure, which bans same-sex marriage, is an improper revision of the state’s constitution.

After the California Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the state Constitution prohibits the state from banning gay and lesbian couples from marrying, a movement was sparked to place the anti-gay marriage ballot measure, Proposition 8, before voters. The Mormon church and socially conservative lobbying groups funneled large sums of money into promoting passage of Propisition 8. On Nov. 5, after its passage, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the ACLU and Lambda Legal, representing six couples and Equality California, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ballot measure. A similar lawsuit was also lodged by several California cities.

An NCLR press release states that the lawsuits “allege that, on its face, Proposition 8 is an improper revision rather than an amendment of the California Constitution because, in its very title, which was ‘Eliminates the right to marry for same-sex couples,’ the initiative eliminated an existing right only for a targeted minority. If permitted to stand, Proposition 8 would be the first time an initiative has successfully been used to change the California Constitution to take away an existing right only for a particular group. Such a change would defeat the very purpose of a constitution and fundamentally alter the role of the courts in protecting minority rights. According to the California Constitution, such a serious revision of our state Constitution cannot be enacted through a simple majority vote, but must first be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature.”

More coverage of the battle over marriage equality in California is available here and here.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).