Epic Fail: California Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban
Posted on | May 26, 2009 |
Ugh. Big news day, but not all news is good news. As it turns out, the California Supreme Court, in its apparently limited wisdom, found that Proposition 8 was the bees’ knees and upheld it. The decision found that the ban on same-sex marriage that was approved in Proposition 8 did not violate Equal Protection clauses in the California and United States Constitutions. Yet it also found that the approximately 18,000 couples that married in the period while the ban was not in effect (from the last California SC ruling until the effective date of Prop 
remained legally married.
The vote was 6-1 in favor of the ban:
Although the court split 6-1 on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the justices were unanimous in deciding to keep intact the marriages of as many as 18,000 gay couples who exchanged vows before the election. The marriages began last June, after a 4-3 state high court ruling striking down the marriage ban last May.In an opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, the state high court ruled today that the November initiative was not an illegal constitutional revision, as gay rights lawyers contended, nor unconstitutional because it took away an inalienable right, as Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown argued.
Only Justice Carlos R. Moreno, the court’s sole Democrat, wanted Proposition 8 struck down as an illegal constitutional revision.
Justice Joyce L. Kennard, who voted with the majority last year to give gays marriage rights, joined George and the court’s four other justices in voting to uphold Proposition 8.
Although I’m thrilled that the 18,000 marriages already created will be upheld, I, along with the rest of the progressive nation, feel cheated that stupidity triumphs over love and equality, yet again. The 18,000 marriages that were already created paled in comparison to the number of committed loving couples seeking marriage rights in that state alone. Those couples will never have that opportunity if this ruling stands.
More to come later when the full decision can be downloaded and read.
UPDATE: The full decision can be read here. It’s 185 pages, so have fun.
UPDATE: Show your support with this badge:
Related posts:
- Justice of the Crazy A justice of the peace in Louisiana refused to...
- Kuwaiti Women A Bit Freer Kuwait’s supreme court gave women in that country a reason...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Social Links
