Prop 8 is the dragon that several warriors are trying to kill. But it will be a battle to the finish. At this point Prop 8 is a part of the equal protection law of the constitution.
This will not be easy to overturn. The Cali-Cal court has to consider if Prop 8 is a major change or not a major change to Constitution. While we believe this is a revision to the old Prop 22, our opponents see this as an amendment. If this is declared as a revision, then it will need two-thirds of the vote in the legislature and then a popular vote. And the scary part is amendments can pass by popular votes.
However, things could happen. Like Cali-Cal politicians joining to invalidate Prop 8. Then 44 members of the California Legislature filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support one of the three lawsuits seeking to invalidate Proposition 8. The case, brought on behalf of gay couples who have not yet married, argues the ban should be tossed out because voters did not have the authority to make such a dramatic change in state law.
Hopefully, this will begin sooner than later. The quicker we deal with this, better we can move on.
1 comment:
It is a difficult sell, as the court has historically had a narrow interpretation of the state constitution's revision clause. And the reason for this narrow interpration is good- the Court does not want to be a veto authority over constitutional amendments.
It should be noted that an amendment was used to define what constituted cruel and unusual punishment; the amendment was passed after the California Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
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