Proposition 8 Under Review
The California State Supreme Court took a step in the right direction voting 6 to 1 on Wednesday to examine the legality of the passing of Proposition 8, which revoked the right for gay and lesbian couples to wed in California.
After the court made its major ruling that overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriages in May, it has now decided to hear requests by both proponents and opponents of Proposition 8 in order to review lawsuits challenging the November 4 initiative.
However, the court also voted 6-1 in refusing to let same-sex marriages begin again while they look at Prop 8’s constitutionality.
The court agreed to hear two arguments made by opponents of Proposition 8: one being that the measure exceeds a legal scope of a ballot initiative by allowing a majority to restrict a minority group’s rights; second that the measure violates the constitutional separation of powers by limiting judicial authority.
In addition, the judges also asked for arguments on whether Proposition 8, if constitutional, would invalidate 18,000 same-sex weddings that were performed between when the court’s marriage ruling took effect in June up until the November 4 election. Attorney General Jerry Brown, who will represent opponents of Prop 8 as the state’s chief lawyer, contends they are legal, while sponsors of Prop 8 continue to disagree.
The result won’t be known for a while though. The justices have asked for written arguments to be submitted by January 21, 2009. The court said they could hold a hearing as early as March, and that a ruling would follow about 90 days later.
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pantone801
said ages ago