Seattle Gay News - Mobile Edition - California Supremes say Prop 8 supporters may defend it in court - California Supremes say Prop 8 supporters may defend it in court - Friday, November 18, 2011

California Supremes say Prop 8 supporters may defend it in court

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posted Friday, November 18, 2011 - Volume 39 Issue 46

California Supremes say Prop 8 supporters may defend it in court
by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

The California Supreme Court ruled on November 17 that supporters of Prop 8 - which reversed equal marriage rights for same-sex couples - have standing to defend the measure's constitutionality in court.

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had asked the state court to settle the question of who may defend Prop 8 when Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris said they would not do so because they believe the law is unconstitutional.

Supporters of marriage equality argued that only state officials, not private citizens, had standing to defend state laws.

In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court asserted that Prop 8 supporters may, indeed, defend the measure when the public officials who would normally do so fail to act.

'Accordingly, we respond to the question posed by the Ninth Circuit in the affirmative,' the court said.

'In a postelection challenge to a voter-approved initiative measure, the official proponents of the initiative are authorized under California law to appear and assert the state's interest in the initiative's validity and to appeal a judgment invalidating the measure when the public officials who ordinarily defend the measure or appeal such a judgment decline to do so.'

The court said that it was ruling only on the question of who may defend Prop 8 in court, and not on the substantive issue of whether restricting marriage rights is lawful.

'The question before us involves a fundamental procedural issue that may arise with respect to any initiative measure, without regard to its subject matter,' the court said.

The court noted that 'in the past official proponents of initiative measures in California have uniformly been permitted to participate as parties - either as interveners or as real parties in interest - in numerous lawsuits in California courts challenging the validity of the initiative measure the proponents sponsored.'

The case will now return to the federal courts for arguments on whether Prop 8 violates the U.S. Constitution.

Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled on August 4, 2010, that Prop 8 violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The decision of the California Supreme Court establishes that Prop 8 supporters may appeal his decision to the Ninth Circuit.

'While a disappointing ruling, this case is now back in federal court, where we expect a quick victory,' Lambda Legal said in a statement.

'The ruling addresses only a procedural legal question. The key question underlying this case is whether the U.S. Constitution permits a state electorate to treat one group of people unequally to everyone else by depriving them of what the state's high court has held to be a fundamental right.

'A federal court has already ruled that it may not. We look forward to seeing that decision upheld so that same-sex couples in California may once again enjoy the freedom to marry.'

'With today's decision, the case challenging Prop 8 returns to federal court and we are one step closer to ending discrimination against loving California couples,' said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese in a statement.

'Thousands of California families remain in legal limbo and we urge the Ninth Circuit to quickly issue its decision. We thank the courageous plaintiffs, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and the Olson-Boies legal team for their continued fight for the equality of all Californians.'

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