CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT GRANTS REVIEW IN PROP 8 LEGAL CHALLENGES

Posted on November 20, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized

Court to determine constitutionality of Prop 8

(San Francisco, California, November 19, 2008)—Today the California Supreme
Court granted review in the legal challenges to Proposition 8, which passed
by a narrow margin of 52 percent on November 4. In an order issued today,
the Court agreed to hear the case and set an expedited briefing schedule.
The Court also denied an immediate stay.

On November 5, 2008, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American
Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging the
validity of Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court on behalf of six
individuals and Equality California. The City of San Francisco, joined by
the City of Los Angeles and Santa Clara County, filed a similar challenge,
as did a private attorney in Los Angeles.

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 way 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.

Since the three lawsuits submitted on November 5, three other lawsuits
challenging Proposition 8 have been filed. In a petition filed on November
14, 2008, leading African American, Latino, and Asian American groups
argued that Proposition 8 threatens the equal protection rights of all
Californians.

On November 17, 2008, the California Council of Churches and other
religious leaders and faith organizations representing millions of members
statewide, also filed a petition asserting that Proposition 8 poses a
severe threat to the guarantee of equal protection for all, and was not
enacted through the constitutionally required process for such a dramatic
change to the California Constitution. On the same day, prominent
California women’s rights organizations filed a petition asking the Court
to invalidate Proposition 8 because of its potentially disastrous
implications for women and other groups that face discrimination.

In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court held that barring same-sex
couples from marriage violates the equal protection clause of the
California Constitution and violates the fundamental right to marry.
Proposition 8 would completely eliminate the right to marry only for
same-sex couples. No other initiative has ever successfully changed the
California Constitution to take away a right only from a targeted minority
group.

Over the past 100 years, the California Supreme Court has heard nine cases
challenging either legislative enactments or initiatives as invalid
revisions of the California Constitution. In three of those cases, the
Court invalidated those measures.

For more information on this case, go to:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/highprofile/prop8.htm